Chassis No.: NA11001859

Estimate: £38,000 - £42,000 GBP

• Delivered new in Japan
• Right-hand drive
• Automatic transmission
• Circa 61,000 kilometres recorded

Honda's first supercar, the NSX set new standards for the class on its arrival in 1989, possessing the expected stupendous performance while remaining as civilised and easy to drive as the average family hatchback. The Japanese manufacturer had first signalled its intentions back in 1984 when it displayed the Pininfarina-designed HP-X concept car, yet few would have believed that its first attempt at building a Ferrari-beater would prove so successful.

Honda was already committed to Formula 1, supplying engines to the all-conquering McLarens of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, and was able to call on the latter to assist in developing the NSX, which is the only road car ever to benefit from the great Brazilian driver's expertise. The result was a car that wowed the motoring press when the scribes first got their hands on a pre-production prototype in the summer of 1989.

'Honda has bridged the gap between invigorating supercar and friendly sports car,' enthused

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magazine's Gavin Green. 'It will bring a whole category of car into the reach of those who can't afford Ferraris or Lamborghinis. The Japanese, it seems, have opened the door to Europe's remaining automotive secret.'

Despite being developed during F1's turbo era, the NSX's 24-valve 3.0-litre V6 engine was normally aspirated. Equipped with the new VTEC variable valve timing system, the all-alloy unit produced 270bhp initially, which was good enough for a top speed of 168mph and a 0-60mph time of less than six seconds. Those performance figures put the NSX on a par with Ferrari's 348 GTB, but in terms of comfort, ergonomics, driving dynamics, and build quality, the NSX was in a different league entirely. Sadly, this superiority was not translated into sales, and by the time production ceased in 2005 fewer than 20,000 NSXs had been sold.

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A desirable pop-up headlamp model (later versions had fixed lamps) this right-hand drive NSX was delivered new in Japan, though details of its ownership history there are not known and there is no service history. In December 2017 the car moved from Japan to the USA and had one owner there before finding a new custodian in Belgium, who is selling it in the UK as the car is right-hand drive. A fog light was added for the MoT test, which was passed on 19th September 2018 (expires 18/09/2019).

The vendor advises us that the NSX drives very well: its engine very smooth and the gearbox changing without hesitation. On 5th October the car was driven without fault to the Goodwood Breakfast Club to be displayed at their 'Japanese Sunday' event, a distance of some 40 miles. Offered with an instruction manual (in Japanese) and the old US Certificate of Title, it represents a rare opportunity to acquire one of the defining supercars of the 1990s at relatively modest cost.

https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/24881/lot/134/1991-honda-nsx-coupe-chassis-no-na11001859/