Honda NSX reimagined as JAS Tensei
Little more to know about the JAS-Pininfarina restomod collab yet, but would you just look at it?
Unlike some would-be restomodders, the JAS-Pininfarina tie-up to create an original Honda NSX for 2026 didn’t need much explaining. It didn’t require legitimacy via a founder’s childhood anecdote, or a soundbite from a racing driver you might have heard of, or a YouTuber having already put down a deposit. It was one of the finest design houses on the planet, in cahoots with a globally renowned Honda race team, reworking an iconic Japanese car with the very best materials and know-how currently available. If you needed to know any more, this probably wasn’t the restomod for you. Otherwise, form an orderly queue in your best loafers over there.
And while we still don’t know very much about what Pininfarina will do with the NSX interior (is a tape player and Android Auto possible?), or what JAS will do with the V6 (come on 9,000rpm), we do at least have a name now. This is the JAS Tensei, or ‘rebirth’ in Japanese, so you can get practising for next year.
The name ‘underlines the project’s philosophy of creating an ultra-modern supercar reinterpretation based on the DNA of the first-generation Honda NSX and remaining true to the characteristics that made it an icon.’ Having been revealed to a few customers last month at Fuji (where else), the JAS Tensei name is now out there for the rest of the world.
As is the finished design, or what we’ll have to assume is very close to it, and it’s hard to find much fault with what Pininfarina has done. Primarily, it could be argued, because it hasn’t sought to transform the donor car - this is very recognisably still an NSX. But it’s a lower, wider, meaner, more modern one, with lights updated, bodywork bulked up and wheel diameter significantly increased. Broader bodywork will be cloaking wider tracks, bigger wheels will sit on larger tyres, and you don’t have calipers that size for small brake discs; already this is looking like a much more serious take on the NSX, with a few little carbon aero details to finish it off.
With a spicier VTEC V6 that could make for a very special Honda sports car, but let’s hope the famed NSX delicacy hasn’t been lost in the process. The very best cars of this ilk are those that retain some key characteristics of the original while also turning the dial on performance quite substantially. Balancing the two requirements will be a lot easier said than done.
Pininfarina has said that the Tensei ‘will feature cutting-edge technology and advanced mechanics derived from the world of competition’, which is, of course, where JAS lends a hand. This isn’t going to be a run-of-the-mill rework with some nice upholstery and a valved exhaust; expect motorsport-grade hardware and software alongside the incredible new look. With Pininfarina and JAS behind it, the Tensei could be a match made in heaven - certainly it seems off to a good start. Expect to know more early in 2026.
Looks like they have extended the rear glass to behind the rear axle, and the black insert on the rear bumper makes it look shorter than it is. So it’s a visual trick rather than actual shortening.
It’s testament to the >30 year old original design than this ‘reimagined’ version looks bang up to date with only a few changes. This to me is proper ‘reimagining’
Plainly some serious investment going into this, not least to Pininfarina, will be interesting to see tests of a finished car.
Sadly, the articles suggest of would you just look at it is as close as I ll likely get!
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