When we think of a Japanese sports car, names like Toyota Supra, Nissan GT-R or Honda NSX come to mind. And it is that the latter had the honor in its first iteration of establishing itself not only once as one of the most coveted sports cars, but also today. That is why the revival of the Honda supercar in these times was a cry for the wealthiest petrolheads; but the reality has been none other than an unnoticed life that has already come to an end.
And it is that the second installment Honda NSX at no time caught on as well as its predecessor did, leaving rather anecdotal sales. Less than 3,000 units were produced of the Japanese supercar and, although in the future this may mean exclusivity and revaluation, for the Japanese firm right now it is a sign of failure.
Goodbye to the second generation of the Honda NSX, the supercar that had an inadvertent life
This was announced by the brand after the 350 unit of the Type S version of the Acura -coinage that it adopts for the American market- NSX left Honda’s factory in Marysville, Ohio. And it is that despite the fact that the second consignment NSX was presented in 2015, since then only 2,908 units have been produced by the Japanese firm, forcing even to cancel its sale in certain markets ahead of time given the lack of success.
In a first instance, the Honda NSX was sold in Europe, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom and America but, after only selling three units between 2019 and 2020 in Europe, none in Australia and nine in Japan in January 2020the firm decided to veto its marketing and launch the special edition Type S limited to 350 units, of which 300 were destined for the United States, 20 for Canada and 30 for Japan.
But what went wrong with this second installment of the NSX? The design, although it is very subjective, was not bad, and the mechanical scheme boasted good enough features to satisfy the most enthusiastic. And it is that the Japanese supercar used a 3.5-liter V6 turbo that, together with two electric motors, It delivered 581 hp and 698 Nm of torque to achieve a tip of 308 km/h and a 0 to 100 in 3.9 seconds.
The problem was perhaps none other than a starting price in Europe of 180,000 euros, a price that seemed high compared to the 108,050 euros that a Nissan GT-R cost back in 2016 or compared to the 218,000 euros that a McLaren 570S implied. Likewise, there were cheaper rivals such as the Porsche 911 GT3, which required an outlay at that time in its 991 generation of 157,857 euros.
And it is that this has been the inadvertent life of a supercar like the Honda NSX, model who had many ballots to shine thanks to his legacy just like the GT-R did. But the market passed judgment on the Japanese supercar and, although we will not see a successor soon, the Japanese house has already alluded to the fact that if at any other time in history we see the initials NSX settle on a rear, it will be on that of a electric car.
