On May 2nd, 2014, the Acura NSX turned twenty-five years old. Though several years have passed since its last iteration, we have reason to celebrate: it will return next year as a 2016 model. We are confident that many events and teasers will precede such an exciting reintroduction to the Acura lineup. If you aren’t very familiar with the NSX, here are some highlights from an article published with AutoWeek.
Honda only introduced the Acura brand three years prior to the release of the NSX, which was the first sports car produced by the luxury division. From the inception of Acura until 1989, the automaker only offered two models: the Legend and the Integra. Executives with the company, however, laid the groundwork for rumors of a sports car. “We told them there was going to be another model,” explained Tom Elliott, American Honda’s executive vice president from 1983 until 2005. “We told them the direction for Acura – sporty and personal; a lot of things that would lead them to believe there would be a sports car.”
The Acura NSX offered amazing innovations in engineering: forged pistons, titanium connecting rods, all-aluminum monocoque, and an 8,000 RPM redline. Going into the Chicago Auto Show, this car had more buzz than the fall of the Berlin Wall and Hulk Hogan body-slamming Andre the Giant combined – and was more innovative than Peter Gabriel’s twisted, vegetable-mishmash music video for “Sledgehammer.” Oh, 1980s, how I loved thee.
A day before the unveiling, which would have journalists packed in like a bunch of big-haired groupies trying to get backstage at a Poison concert, then-president of Honda Tadashi Kume made a rare appearance outside of Japan – indicating the gravity of the event – and cranked the ignition of the NSX during Ford’s official press conference. As if that hadn’t been disruptive enough, considering the Acura display was next door to Ford, he also decided to rev the engine to redline.
Nicely played.
When the cover was finally pulled off of the Acura New Sports eXperimental (NSX), the design and engineering spoke for itself. Kurt Antonius, Honda’s spokesman, merely said, “Ta-da!” Acura’s unveiling of its novel sports car took a scant 10 minutes.
Here’s some of what the critics had to say about the NSX:
Sports Car International – It was “the car of the moment, like no Ferrari or Porsche.”
Popular Science – “The quintessence of engineering sophistication.”
Automobile Magazine – “It could rock the sports car establishment like never before.”
Motor Trend – “It’s the best sports car the world has ever produced.”
The Acura NSX was also voted as Automobile Magazine’s Automobile of the Year.
The current engineers at Acura face a daunting task. They must create an iteration of the NSX that sets the standard for today’s technology and boasts an innovative, appealing design that doesn’t stray far from the legacy established by its predecessors. To create something New, Sporty, and eXperimental yet captures the essence of a vehicle not produced for a decade – well, that’s one job we wouldn’t want.