► VIN 001 Acura NSX sells for $1.2m
► All proceeds to children’s charities
► Reached almost 10x its face value
The second coming of the Honda NSX has been a long time in the making.
After a protracted development process and a seemingly endless stream of concepts, the wait is over and production of the 21st century NSX has begun.
You’d think a few more weeks wouldn’t make much difference, but one generous buyer just couldn’t wait any longer to get their hands on the hybrid supercar: the first production US-spec Acura NSX has fetched $1.2m (£842,500) at a charity auction in North America.
You can read CAR’s early first drive of the new NSX here
Sorry, did you say $1.2m?
The official starting price for the USA’s Acura-badged NSX (think of Acura to Honda as Infiniti is to Nissan) is $157,800 (£111,000). However, the first production car – VIN number 001 – reached nearly 10 times its face value at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2016 auction on 29 January.
Honda didn’t pocket any of the profit, with all proceeds going to children’s charities – the Paediatric Brain Tumour Foundation in North Carolina and Camp Southern Ground in Georgia.
NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick, a renowned collector of first-edition performance cars, made the winning bid. The NSX will be added to Hendrick’s museum collection in North Carolina.
The new Honda NSX will go on sale in Europe in late 2016. It features a complex triple-electric-motor, 3.5-litre V6 hybrid system and a claimed sub-3sec 0-62mph time.
Gavin Green’s first drive of the original Honda NSX from 1989, CAR+ archive
Gavin Green’s view on the new, and old, NSX