New Honda NSX back on

The New Honda NSX – all back on

Honda CEO Takashi Ito has revealed that Honda are to restart work on the new Honda NSX supercar after canning the project two years ago.

The original Honda NSX was something of a connoisseurs supercar. Not flashy or gaudy or massively be-winged, but subtle, light and delicate. Owned by the same sort of people who would have a McLaren F1 if they could afford it.

Unless they’re Rowan Atkinson. And then they’d have both.

But they no longer have the choice, as Honda stopped production of the original NSX in 2005. There was a plan – well advanced, apparently – to replace the NSX with an all new Honda NSX sporting a high-revving, compact V10.

But Honda took fright when the world appeared to go in to financial meltdown and canned the project in favour of a new ‘Green’ Honda S2000.

Which, as it’s turned out, was not the best decision Honda has ever made. Not quite on a par with spending €300 million on developing their 2009 F1 car and then handing it over to Ross Brawn for 50p and a packet of pork scratchings, but close.

Because Honda need only look at Godzilla and the LFA to see what could have been. And the hurt that Takashi Ito – Honda CEO – obviously feels about the success of the Nissan GT-R and Lexus LFA has now manifested itself in a complete volt-face on the NSX.

Ito has told reporters that “…I feel that we need to meet the calls from the public asking (for a successor).” Which assuming Honda hasn’t sold the entire development of the new NSX to Hyundai for another 50p and another packet of pork scratchings should mean we could see the NSX turning up at a motor show near you later this year.

Or 2015 if Honda do end up starting from scratch.