Honda NSX | PH Heroes

The NSX is about to have its restomod moment - what better time to revisit Honda's mythic icon?

By Matt Bird / Saturday, 29 November 2025 / Loading comments

Sometimes it can be hard to believe that the Honda NSX and 964-era Porsche 911 are contemporaries. Both were launched in 1989, both were six-cylinder sports cars that cost a similar amount - and yet they could hardly have been more different. The Porsche was the latest in a long line of air-cooled two-doors already stretching back a quarter of a century by then, updated and upgraded once more but with a very traceable lineage back to much older stuff. The NSX was like something from another planet by comparison, with its VTEC-enabled V6 in the middle, interior that made sense, and silicon-age demeanour.

As classic cars, too, the stories of the 964 and the NSX are drastically different. Once the Porsche became cheap, people modified them; because that was Porsche tradition, yes, but also there was plenty that could be improved. Singer Vehicle Design was founded 15 years after the last 964 was made, tellingly. The Honda, on the other hand... well, when they were down below £20,000 (yes, it really did happen), owners just carried on driving them in standard form. You don’t really see modified NSXs, certainly not to the same degree as 964s - despite coming from the country and the time that it did - and that must have something to do with just how sorted they were from the factory.

Indeed, it’s taken until 2025, two decades since the original went out of production and more than 35 years since it was first seen, for an attempt at NSX reimagination to emerge. And even that involves an officially sanctioned Honda racing partner and Pininfarina. An NSX restomod is not just going to appear from people you’ve not heard of, as has happened with quite a few others. Partly that’s due to how much a donor car now costs, but also - to be frank - how do you go about improving the original viceless sports car?

It’ll be fascinating to see just what comes of the JAZ-Pininfarina collaboration. For now, a revisit of the NSX seemed in order; it was welcomed into the Heroes hall of fame long ago, though an awful lot has changed since then. While the original significance remains unaltered - the first cars arriving at a time of the final Countaches and E24 6 Series, like a MacBook at Bletchley Park - how does it continue to stack up as a modern classic? Put most simply, the first NSX is now worth more than it ever has been: does the experience still live up to that?

You’ll never tire of looking at one, that’s for sure. That rear end is as iconic as the four rings of a GT-R, if not more so, a signature that everyone will recognise. As we move further away from the '90s, so the NSX only looks smaller, daintier and prettier; it's low and slender yet with enormous presence. What once seemed perhaps a bit dorky now speaks to Honda's attention to detail. Apart from when it came to replacing the pop-ups; that apparently wasn’t done with much thought at all.

The interior isn’t quite so pretty, but then that was always the point of the NSX, eschewing flamboyance for functionality. Or the very opposite of the sports car building mantra up till then. Therefore, unlike some contemporaries, switches and buttons are where you might expect to find them, the dials are beautifully legible and the driving position accommodates above-average-sized humans - novel ideas that would soon catch on. And which remain very useful today, let’s be honest; if an old car is being saved for special occasions, the last thing you’ll want to do is have to remember how it works. You want to get on with enjoying it.

Indeed, it could well be argued that the NSX’s influence can still be felt all these decades later. Because the current crop of junior supercars like the McLaren Artura and Ferrari 296, though now embellished with huge amounts of hybrid horsepower, make use of 8,000rpm 3.0-litre(ish) V6s, mounted behind the driver and with rear-wheel drive. Kerbweight is kept as low as possible. They’re a cinch to operate and see out of, yet can thrill like nothing else on the road. Which all sounds very familiar.

This Honda remains remarkably simple to operate, though it’s notable how the definition of ‘simple’ has changed since its introduction. Because there’s definitely some weight and resistance to the controls here, an almost alien concept in a by-wire world, but with great accuracy and sensation also. There’s no slack, no delay, no hesitation, just that reassuring heft to the steering and the shift of a proper machine. It’s more than happy to be subjected to the demands of everyday life (and a photoshoot), too: an NSX can dawdle at very few revs in a high gear, won’t begrudge endless shunting around, and doesn’t require kid gloves to operate. Reverse goes in as easily as first does in most manual gearboxes. The air con does a fine job; the aerial still rises and falls obligingly, a feature that will make no sense at all to anyone under the age of about 28. It all just works. Which was always the NSX thing, of course, but is now perhaps all the more impressive given the vintage.

Certainly, the average bystander would think nothing of the engine below 4,000 rpm or so. The NSX starts and idles like a Civic— or a Legend, perhaps, given the configuration— humming like a Singer (sewing machine) and pretty unassuming in truth. But the magic is never far away: open the throttle fully once a few thousand revs are on the dial, and the NSX snarls with that unmistakable induction timbre, as raw and thrilling as any six since. With more revs comes more and more energy, VTEC fully on song, and metallic rasp intensifying as 8,000 rpm nears. Fairly modest power by today’s standards, and lengthy ratios mean you can luxuriate in every gear, bathe in the sound, and risk anything. Maybe lacking a bit of ultimate four-cylinder VTEC fizz is absolutely worth it for the V6’s musicality.

All of which would be appealing enough on its own, but mated to probably the best manual gearbox ever makes the NSX powertrain truly unforgettable. There must be people out there who write about firearms, comparing the action of a rifle bolt to a Honda gear change; it’s so precise, so tactile, so satisfying, every single time. JAZ have said they’ll liberate a few extra horsepower from the V6, no doubt very expensively, though hopefully, the gearbox is left well alone. Apart from a lower final drive, perhaps. Everything about it is complete perfection.

The relative lack of speed, plus the effort required and the compliant ride, means there’s definitely a retro feel to the way an NSX goes down a road. At last, really: for so long it seemed like this was the modern sports car benchmark. While there was always some fear surrounding on-limit behaviour, the NSX is a joy below that. There’s a sense that that engine is quite high up behind you, as opposed to right down in the belly of the beast where it would be now, but never does it seem like getting away from you. That placement ensures superb agility and traction, which the relative narrowness of the tracks and body only encourages you to exploit. Just 1,400kg or so means that compliance can be smartly balanced with tautness on a passive setup. It wants driving, it wants consideration, and there’s ample reward for doing both. Like so many great cars, the NSX feels so cohesive and all-of-a-piece: for spirited road use, speed, grip, braking and damping are all in superb harmony. What was once exotic, futuristic and ambitious is now a glorious reminder of how charming the simple things done well can be.

Indeed, perhaps the issue with the NSX now, and one totally not of its own causing, is the thrill on offer with the prices now being asked. Because a £50k prospect, as it was the last time we wrote about these cars, is a very different one to a £100,000 modern classic, as they are today. Where eminent usability might have been a boon for semi-regular use, that’s simply not going to happen with them now. And if it’s going to be kept for occasional use, then maybe - just maybe - you might crave a little more speed, a little more drama, a little more challenge. Or you might love the idea of a car that feels special any time, any place, come rain or shine. Certainly, the NSX’s hero status remains undimmed. Whatever is conjured by JAZ and Pininfarina next year, using this as its blueprint ought to make the result utterly spectacular.

SPECIFICATION | HONDA NSX

Engine: 3,179cc V6
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 280@7,300rpm
Torque (lb ft): 220@5,300rpm
0-62mph: 5.7 sec
Top speed: 168 mph
Weight: 1,410kg
On sale: 1990-2005
Price new: £59,995
Price now: c. £80,000+