For Sale at Auction: 1995 Acura NSX in Monterey, California

Chassis No. NA1-1300262

By the late 1980s, Honda had cemented itself as a dominant force in Formula One, powering Williams and then McLaren to six consecutive Constructor's Championships between 1986 and 1991. Having proven itself against the world's best, including Ferrari, Honda set its sights on creating a mid-engine road car that could challenge the likes of the Ferrari 328 and the upcoming 348. Drawing heavily from its racing expertise, the company revealed its answer at the 1989 Chicago Auto Show: the NSX. It was an acroynm for "New", "Sportscar" "eXperimental" and the car was just that-one that would reshape the expectations for everyday supercars.

The NSX immediately made waves with its high-revving, transversely mounted 3.0-liter V6, featuring VTEC variable valve timing, titanium connecting rods, and forged pistons-culminating in an 8,300 rpm redline. It was paired with a lightweight, all-aluminum semi-monocoque chassis that provided exceptional rigidity. Styling by Pininfarina with its spacious greenhouse evoked the profile of an F-16 fighter jet, and Honda enlisted none other than legendary F1 Champion Ayrton Senna to fine-tune the chassis during development. Yet, what truly set the NSX apart was not just its impressive performance, but its unmatched usability. With superb ergonomics, reliability, and build quality, it offered a level of precision and refinement previously unheard of in a mid-engine sports car.

Still, some purists-particularly in Japan-longed for something more visceral. Inspired by lightweight performance variants of already high performance sports cars like the Porsche Carrera RS, these enthusiasts sought a version that prioritized raw performance over daily comfort. Their wishes were answered in November 1992 with the debut of the NSX-R (or Type R), a track-focused evolution stripped of nearly all luxury features. Air conditioning, airbags, stereo, and insulation were all jettisoned, replaced by red Alcantara-covered carbon-Kevlar Recaro seats and lightweight Enkei wheels. Mechanical revisions included a blueprinted and balanced crankshaft, revised gearing, and upgraded suspension. Though officially rated at 276 horsepower-thanks to Japan's industry-wide horsepower cap-it was widely believed to produce closer to 290. With stiffer springs, a thicker front sway bar, and a locking limited-slip differential, the NSX-R transformed Honda's refined supercar into a razor-sharp instrument of speed-one that represented the apex of Japanese road-legal performance engineering.

According to its serialized original maintenance book, this NSX-R was originally purchased at the Honda Verno Japan network of dealerships. It is finished in rare Berlina Black and optioned with air conditioning and a Honda BOSE stereo system. Throughout its time in Japan it remained an impressively stock example with light modification that include an exhaust system update to a custom Super Titanium unit from Fujitsubo, an NA2 Type-R six-speed transmission, and NA2 Type-R 17-inch seven-spoke Championship White wheels. It retains its special NSX-R interior finishes that include its beautiful three-spoke Momo black leather steering wheels, yellow-needle metric gauges with raised 8,500 rpm redline, titanium shift knob, and red Alcantara Recaro sport seats with its rare NSX-R branded Alcantara brush.

The maintenance book, inspection documentation, and decals applied to the car reveal a thorough and consistent service history while in Japan. Before leaving Japan a Honda Cars Aomori service decal shows an oil change with filter at 38,441 kilometers on 4 November 2022, just 140 kilometers from its current odometer reading at cataloging. Now fully outside its infamous 25-year restriction, in June 2025 this NSX-R left for the United States' west coast. Once in the U.S., this NSX-R, limitation number R0393 visited NSX specialists ScienceofSpeed in Chander, Arizona for a thorough service.

With only 483 examples produced, the NA1 NSX-R is a truly rare specimen even in its home market of Japan. Excluded from the U.S. for a quarter-century it is an even rarer site on U.S. shores. With approximately 24,000 miles at cataloging and finished in rare Berlina Black this NSX-R represents a rare opportunity to acquire what is arguably the supercar pinnacle of Honda's 1990s lineup as most driver-focused version of the vaunted NSX series.