It was late in the evening on a gray and cloudy day in 1977 when Ben Johnson pulled his red Pontiac GTO convertible into the Jenkins & Wynne Ford dealership in Clarksville, Tenn. The 24-year-old electronic warfare specialist in the Army's 101st Airborne Division, was about to do something that - at the time anyway - was considered un-American.

He was going to buy a Japanese car.

"My GTO was taking me to the cleaners," he said, recalling the era's high prices and fuel rationing that limited motorists to 10- gallon fill-ups on odd-even days based on license-plate numbers. "It almost took 10 gallons just to drive to the gas station."

The car Mr. Johnson bought, dealt out of the back of a dealership, was a 1976 Honda Accord, the first model year of what would become one of the best-selling cars in automotive history.

The story would end there if not for the fact that Mr. Johnson's Accord not only still runs but also might just be the oldest Honda Accord on the planet. "It's a claim that's out there until we find out otherwise," he said.

Mr. Johnson began a quest four years ago to find out whether his silver two-door is the oldest surviving Accord. With more than 13 million Accords sold in more than 140 countries since 1976, he couldn't get a definitive answer from Honda Motor Co., its dealers or its vehicle-owner associations.

1976 Honda Accord

His research, however, yielded a couple of nuggets: His car's vehicle identification number, SJE1011014, predates the model that Honda has parked in its Tokyo museum. He also found out that only Accords built near the end of the first year's 18,600-vehicle production run were exported to markets outside the U.S., meaning it's unlikely an older Accord is tooling around Sao Paulo, Brazil; or Manila, Philippines; or Nairobi, Kenya.

"If it's not the oldest, it's probably the one that's in the best shape," Mr. Johnson said. "Anything else wouldn't be as spirited and roadworthy as mine is now."

The only things separating Mr. Johnson's Accord from the $4,209.40 car he drove off the lot 30 years ago is an aftermarket stereo, high-performance shocks and tires, and a custom carburetor system installed after the 100,000-mile mark.

With nearly 300,000 miles on the odometer, the car still delivers a fuel-sipping 32 miles per gallon and can cruise at interstate speeds of 80 mph without strain. "The car looks better, and runs better, than the owner," Mr. Johnson said.

The self-described car nut, who owns several other vehicles, is so passionate about the Accord that he would sell it only to a museum or organization that would put it on display.

He says the Accord should be part of a history exhibit on how rising energy costs changed America's car-buying habits, just as today's prices have made smaller sport utility vehicles and gasoline-electric hybrids more popular.

"History repeats itself," he said, commenting on the nation's renewed interest in conservation. "All we have to do is look back to the late 1970s."