Tuesday 12th July 2005

Honda kills the NSX

European version build ends in September

---

Grab one now while you can

Honda is to stop building the NSX, announcing today that it will discontinue production of the supercar. Production for the North American market stops at the end of December 2005, while building of the European version ends in September.

Honda reckoned that it's working on a successor, what it called "a new sports car for a new era, which is to incorporate Honda’s most advanced technology."

NSX history

The NSX was a car that garnered a small but loyal following -- and was arguably a victim of being too good at what it did. Enthusiasts point to its reliability and everyday practicality. So do its detractors, saying that a supercar has no business displaying those attributes, adding that it was just too easy to drive. The enthusiasts might have the last laugh when it comes to residuals though.

The NSX made its debut in 1990 as a mid-engined sports car with an all-aluminium monocoque body, said to be a world first for a production vehicle at the time. The NSX evolved, with performance improvements including increased displacement, a six-speed manual transmission, enhanced aerodynamic performance, and different tyre sizes, along with the addition of the NSX Type-T open-top model and the NSX Type-R pure sports model with further enhanced driving performance.

Honda called it "one of the first true sports cars to adopt clean emissions measures". It managed to sell over 18,000 cars during the 15 year life-span of the machine -- not enough perhaps to make it a profitable concern.

Honda said it will "continue to foster an environment supportive of NSX owners and their enjoyment of their cars, through meticulous maintenance of NSX vehicles, a Refresh Plan to preserve vehicles in their optimum condition, and the continuing support of NSX Owners’ Meetings to assist owners who wish to enhance their driving skills."

[havoc]

Shame to see it go, they really are fantastic cars, but they've hardly been selling any now for a while...and regardless of how good the dynamics still are, the looks have dated a lot. Nice to see they'll be offering proper support to owners though...

I wonder what the replacement will be? Boxster-killer, or another 911-competitor?!?

[Marquis_Rex]

Agreed, it is a shame. In some ways under rated, however the residuals for even old ones are high, so it must be appreciated- i.e by its loyal following.
I prefer the look of the original NSXs with the pop up head lights....