1991 Honda NSX

Highly original and low mileage example

Estimate: £60,000 - £70,000*

Reg No: J222 NSX Chassis No: NA1-1003956 MOT: October 2023

The NSX (New Sportscar eXperimental) was a major departure for Honda, which by 1984 was renowned for its well-engineered but generally quite staid road cars. Its origins lay in the HP-X (Honda Pininfarina eXperimental) concept of that year and wowed the performance car world when it debuted at the 1989 Chicago Auto Show. The intention was to match or better the performance of contemporaneous V8 Ferraris, coupled with superior reliability and lower cost. The styling was inspired by the F-16 fighter jet, the paint process ran to 23 phases, and Ayrton Senna was involved in the vehicle’s final development. It was the first mass-production car equipped with an all-aluminium body and was powered by an all-alloy V6 motor featuring Honda’s patented VTEC engine control system and titanium connecting rods. The unit drove through a five-speed manual or four-speed sports automatic system.

Make no mistake, this was a mould-breaking motorcar that even caused McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray to say: “When I drove an NSX, all existing benchmark cars vanished from my mind.” The car was the first real Japanese ‘supercar’, proving itself and quickly establishing respect from its key competitors. However, this superiority was not translated into sales and, by the time production ceased in 2005, fewer than 20,000 had been sold making them relatively rare and much sought-after today.

Manufactured in 1991, chassis no. NA1-1003956 was supplied new to the domestic market of Japan. Remaining there until importation into the United Kingdom in 2016 by well-renowned specialists Plans Performance, the Honda has been in the ownership of three individuals including the vendor (who acquired the Honda in 2019), since arrival in the United Kingdom. A well-specified example, the NSX is finished in the striking and iconic colour combination of Formula Red paintwork with Black leather interior upholstery, matching that of the NSX owned by racing legend Ayrton Senna, so familiar from the well-known image of him washing it outside his Portuguese villa in 1992.

The 3.0 V6 DOHC VTEC engine is allied to the four-speed automatic transmission, NA1-1003956 is offered for auction having covered a mere 57,225 kilometres, equating to some c.35,500 miles. Benefitting from servicing in 2016, 2019, and 2021, with a cambelt change less than 2,000 kilometres ago, while in the vendor’s ownership, the

NSX has covered under 1,000 kilometres. Offered with the apt cherished registration number, ‘J222 NSX’ is a highly original example. The vendor has upgraded with a modern stereo system, but this has been discreetly fitted in the glovebox, so as not to detract from the original interior.

Accompanied by a history file that includes the ‘bill of landing’ from Japan, a collection of previous MOT certificates and invoices, original sales literature, previous logbooks, a fitted car cover, and two sets of keys. Rating by the vendor as being in ‘very good to excellent’ or ‘excellent’ condition throughout, the Honda is an excellent opportunity to acquire a low mileage, highly original, and popular colour scheme example of the becoming ever collectable NSX.