The Honda NSX Might Be Coming Back (Again), Company Hints

The Honda NSX has always been a product of its time. The original car, launched in 1990, was a technical marvel of its era with its all-aluminium body and early application of VTEC. The second generation from 2016 captured the zeitgeist of the period with a twin-turbocharged V6 and a hybrid system that allowed all sorts of clever torque vectoring to take place.

Now, comments made by Honda’s CEO, Toshihiro Mibe, suggest that development on another NSX - or something in its image - is underway, and that it’ll once again be a product of its times. That only means one thing: it’s electric.

Mibe has dropped these tantalising hints following the unveiling of the Saloon and Space-Hub, a pair of radical-looking EV concepts intended to preview Honda’s upcoming 0 Series line of electric cars. He told Autocar that Honda has been looking into the development of EV sports cars, going so far as to say that “at the R&D centre, we have a sports car” on which work is “steadily proceeding.”

We’re clearly a long way off knowing exactly what form this potential halo model for the 0 Series might look like, but Mibe suggested that serious work is being done to ensure the unnamed sports car remains engaging to drive. A timeframe for production, should it happen, is also unknown, but Mibe has said that “personally, I would like to make it happen.”

Last summer, Honda’s luxury sub-brand, Acura - under which name both previous NSXs were marketed in North America - showed off a few sketches of what it called an ‘Electric Vision Design Study’, which had all the hallmarks of a wild, cab-forward supercar design. Rumours at the time suggested a full reveal to coincide with Honda’s 75th anniversary, but that came and went in September without much fanfare.

If Mibe’s comments are anything to go by, though, we might not have too long to wait before we see another possible halo car from Honda, and if it has anything like the wild, wedgy design previewed by the 0 Series concepts, it could be truly spectacular. Watch this space.