Honda NSX Type R NA-1
TIPPED BY: FELIX ARCHER
‘The NA-1 generation NSX Type Rs are really special,’ says Felix. ‘Honda only made 483 and all were sold in Japan. They’re on fire over there at the moment, largely because it’s been 25 years since the first ones were built, meaning you can get them into America. We had a couple of clients after them last year and we had a really hard time finding one because they sell at the click of a finger as soon as they appear, even up around £200,000.’
There’s no particular homologation behind the Type R’s creation, but rather a desire from Honda’s engineers to walk back some of the compromises they were obliged to make for the original road car. So the NSX Type-r shed a lot of its sound deadening, its stereo, powered leather seats, spare tire, traction control system and of course air conditioning. Suspension tweaks removed potential oversteer in fast corners. Honda even managed to find lighter aluminium wheels to reduce unsprung weight. It removed a total of 120kg from the NSX, bringing kerb weight down to 1230kg – less than a Lotus Esprit GT3 of the same year, though the 3.0-litre VTEC V6 remained unchanged beyond blueprinting and hand assembly.
‘They were all finished in white, as were the second-generation NA-2 cars without the pop-up lamps. Those are worth much less now but their time will probably come too, though they have another six years to wait before they’ll be allowed into the USA under the 25 year rule exempting them from Department of Transportation standards.’
But how to find one?
‘We had to employ a Japanese translator,’ says Felix. ‘You really need the trust of collectors to let you in the door, never mind to make an offer. It was quite an involved process and if you’re trying to buy from collectors, you’ll be competing against dealers. But they’re very cool cars, incredible to drive and there’s a lot of competition to own one right now.’
‘They sell at the click of a finger, even up around £200,000‘