U.S. Might Get New NSX First
Last December 17, 2007, American Honda President and CEO Tetsuo Iwamura revealed that the next-generation Acura NSX will arrive in the year 2010. This is a year later than what was initially announced by Honda Motor Co. Ltd. CEO Takeo Fukui in a speech he made on July 2005:
“We are now focused on the development of a new model to succeed the NSX for a new era. We would like to debut a new super sports car equipped with a V-10 engine in three to four years.”
This extra year of waiting only goes to show that art and marvelous engineering can’t be rushed.
The V-10 engine, by the way, will replace the V-6 one of its would-be predecessor; and so far, this has been the only detail released by Honda and only serves to pique interest and curiosity. Excitement abounds for this vehicle, as the first NSX was—and most probably still is—subject to much praise and awe back when it was released from the wild, racing roads and into the—shall we say, more “civilized”—streets. In fact, the Acura NSX is so good that its 1992 review got a reprint in the Greatest Hits issue of Winding Road Magazine (Nov. 2007, page 272).
One can only surmise that the iconic rear deck wing will remain, among many of its many engineering marvels such as the hood that, despite its length, virtually disappears from the driver’s view due to how it is sloped.
However, there is less—though not entirely eliminated—guesswork regarding whether the U.S. might get the NSX before Japan does. For one thing, Honda announced last summer that the Japan launch of the Acura brand would be delayed by at least two years due to inadequate market conditions. Secondly, Iwamura himself has hinted that Americans might truly have first dibs on this luxury sports car:
“In case of the introduction order, at this moment I can’t tell,” he says. “But the U.S., you know, has a majority of the (Acura) customers – that (is something) you have to think about.”
Indeed, that is truly something to think about. Or, to be more precise, the new Acura NSX is something to fantasize about…