Vehicle Description
With the new Acura NSX knocking on the $200,000 threshold,
collectors are catching on to the fact that Acura's early cars are
pretty darned spectacular. Of course they were all bulletproof in
typical Honda fashion, so many of them were used hard and put away
wet. But this 1994 Acura NSX with just 76,052 original miles almost
looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor.
A lot of folks think of the NSX as a Japanese Ferrari, but I think
that does the NSX a grave disservice. If you look at it, it's
really like nothing else before or since, with a radical
cab-forward design that was expressly made to resemble a fighter
jet's canopy. The low nose and neatly integrated rear spoiler are
done with noteworthy ease and the whole thing doesn't seem to be
trying too hard to be racy. It just is. Of course, bright red paint
with that blacked-out cockpit pretty much eliminates any chance of
going unnoticed, but that's the price of stardom. That's factory
paint, by the way, and if you have any doubts about Honda's ability
to deliver a product worth more than $65,000 (in 1994 dollars), you
need only look at the ripple-free panels on this NSX. Thanks to
smart design, it isn't prone to scraping its chin on driveway
aprons, either, so all the nose pieces are nicely preserved and the
rockers haven't been sandblasted by road debris. Obviously someone
cherished this car.
Despite the mid-engined layout, Honda managed to make the NSX as
comfortable and user-friendly as an Accord. No longer could an
exotic car claim that being cramped, hot, uncomfortable, and using
balky switch gear was a sign of character, and it wasn't too long
after this that the big names got serious about improving quality
and user-friendliness. The deeply bolstered black leather seats are
very nicely preserved with only minor comfort marks, notably on the
driver's side. The rest of the interior is equally nice and as a
Honda, everything works as you'd expect. The A/C is effective, the
AM/FM/cassette stereo sounds great thanks to plenty of
sound-dampening materials and great aerodynamics, and everything
was standard so you don't have to worry about owning a stripped
NSX. Heck, there's even usable trunk space both up front and in
back!
You know Honda was serious about the NSX when they filled the
3.0-liter V6 with titanium connecting rods and ultra-light aluminum
pistons. The result is an engine that loves to rev and shrieks to
its 8000 RPM redline like an F1 racer, and remember, this was
almost 25 years ago! Keep it boiling and the engine was devastating
on the street and thanks to a slick-shifting 4-speed automatic
transmission, it's easy to just point and shoot your way through
traffic. And if you have worries about maintenance, don't sweat it,
because the all-important timing belt change was done in 2013.
Honda's legendary A-arm suspension delivers superlative handling
(as well as that low cowl) and it's fitted with disc brakes whose
specifications might seem modest, but thanks to an intensive
weight-control program, are more than adequate for the flyweight
NSX. It's currently wearing flashy Auto Coutre wheels and 225/35/18
front and 265/30/19 rear performance radials, but the factory
wheels are included with the sale if you'd like to take it back to
100% stock condition.
Complete with maintenance receipts, books, and manuals, this is the
NSX you should buy for the joy of driving. But if it also turns out
to be a smart investment, well, so much the better! Call today!
