The Acty's primary competitors were the Subaru Sambar, Suzuki Carry/Every, Daihatsu Hijet, Mazda Scrum, Nissan NT100/NV100 Clipper and the Mitsubishi Minicab.

The Acty was exported to a number of markets, including Great Britain, where it is considered to have created an entire new category.

[4] The name was discontinued in 2001 after the Honda Vamos name had been reintroduced as a replacement trim level for the Street, on a shared platform of the Acty van.

As a bit of an oddity, the Acty was sold during 1982 in Australia, but was made unavailable inside of Sydney due to concerns by Honda that the vehicle was underpowered for the hilly terrain.

The second generation Acty was launched in May 1988 with the introduction of the Honda E05 engine, with an additional cylinder added, making it a 547 cc 3-cylinder with SOHC.

There was also an "Acty Attack" version of the truck, intended for farmers in particular this model has a differential lock in the rear and features Ultra-Low forward and reverse gears (UL/UR).

[6] The original Actys have distinct round headlights (known as “round-eye”) while the Street Van has large, rectangular headlamps.

[6] After a thorough March 1990 update to meet altered kei car regulations the Acty Truck received the same headlights as the Street Van, while all models grew longer by 10 cm (3.9 in).

At this time the Street also received the taillights from the contemporary Honda Today (which were also used for the third generation Acty van).

In October 1993, the Honda Street and Acty's front design was changed yet again, receiving larger, more square headlamp units with one chamfered corner.

The Acty Crawler (HA5), with treads mounted on tandem axles replacing the rear wheels, was released in January 1994 and remained in production for special order until 1999.

Honda pushed the driving position back while keeping the engine in its traditional location underneath the vehicle.

Four-wheel drive is available as an option on all vans, and all but one model of pickup truck, making the Acty one of a handful of mid-engine, AWD vehicles that are not designed as supercars.

There was also the Acty Attack, a spartanly equipped four-wheel drive version with a differential lock, particularly intended for farmers.

[9] The Acty van (and the related Vamos Hobio) kept using the taillights of the 1988 facelift version of the Honda Today.

The wheelbase was shortened dramatically, returning to the 1.9 m (6.2 ft) as used on the second generation Acty, in order to increase cabin space and to shrink the turning circle.

[10] The Acty ended production in April 2021 due to new emissions regulations and mandatory crash mitigation brakes that will be gradually required to be installed, thus increasing development costs.