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By Limo Smith
The famed Honda NSX. More than one ‘car guy’ has spent hours and even days scouring online on Craigslist & kijiji looking for more than a perfect specimen of a Honda NSX. Often it’s to no avail as well one may well suspect. For its seems Honda NSX in this special condition are as rare as hen’s teeth.
It seems that at the height of the 1980’s economic boon, when all things looked possible to Japanese, Honda decided to take on Ferrari at their own ‘game’. Having studied the latest in 328GTB’s , Honda decided that it could do more than one better in one upmanship – and thus developed this new mid-engined creation – the Honda ‘NXS’. Along with most other supercars of this period , the NSX’s general layout was might be termed ‘conventional’ – it was a two-seater , the engine was behind the seats driving the rear wheels, there was all-independent suspension , and the main air intakes for the engine were to be on the flanks.
Honda known for being itself then added their own touches as a means of improving the roadster. Instead of a separate chassis, there was carefully detailed lightweight aluminum monocoque, which more than ensured that the NSX was much lighter – in the ranges of 136 kg or 300 pounds – that if had been crafted in standard run of the mill, ordinary pressed steel. The engine as well , was no stick in the mud – was the already well known and track proven aluminum four-cam V6 whose smaller capacity ancestors had already driven down the road and highway such vehicles as the Rover 827 executive saloons as well as the ‘Honda Legend’. The engine mechanical drive train layout was that it was mounted transversely (Ferrari 308/328 style layout) and drove the rear wheels via a five-speed transmission layout.
It was said and noted in the auto trade that compared with the Ferrari, the NSX was indeed different in many ways. Purists suggested that Honda had engineered all the soul and passion out of the vehicle. Even so if this were true as stated they had added in standard run of mill Honda Japanese car reliability. The trade off in the mix of sans soul that Honda had also engineered in a good measure of comfort, reliability and a driver friendly cabin with good ventilation.
Structurally and functionally, the NSX road car hardly ever put a foot wrong, however among purists it had to constantly struggle overall to make its real mark and stamp in that market and among those Ferrari class niche auto owners.
True there was nothing wrong with its engineering, its behavior or performance it had one major failing that Honda could never solve. That was it was not technically nor could ever be a ‘real (dyed in the wool) Ferrari’. It’s a Honda – an upscale mass market vehicle. Perhaps the Japanese auto makers learned a most important lesson from the NSX exercise and experience. True they had a most loyal following of their basic product line, these consumers worked up their product lines – much like GM had pioneered years before. New auto owners started with perhaps a used GM, then a new Chevrolet from a showroom as a luxury. As they progressed and prospered in life they hopefully went up the product tree from the Chevrolet to Pontiac, Oldsmobile or Buick to hopefully one day the ultimate vehicle – the Cadillac. The Japanese product makers thinking they had a solidly earned brand named hoped to piggyback and indeed enlarge and upscale their brand name. Yet it was the mass market appeal of good value and affordability along with reliability and solidness that was a drawback. Later upscale premium vehicles from the major Japanese auto makers – Toyota, Nissan (Datsun) and in this case Honda all carried separate badges entirely separate and yet luxury brands – Lexus, Infinity and in the case of Honda itself Acura.
Yet all being told in spite of a well made car, composed of a long lasting rust resistant aluminum chassis Honda NSX models in vintage condition are hard to come by and find on eBay, Craigs List & Kijiji online.
About the Author: Limo Smith
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Source:
isnare.com
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