2005 NSX doesn’t feel like it has aged a day
PALM SPRINGS, CALIF. Is it so wrong to lust after Helen Mirren more than Blake Lively? Ford’s original GT40 more than the about-to-be-reincarnated GT? Are such longings for glories past based on true reminiscence or are they just further proof that the only thing receding faster than my hairline is my ability to recall how truly awful the supposedly good old days really were?
Whatever memory lapse I was suffering, I have to admit I was truly taken aback by my short drive in the pristine Silverstone Metallic — Acura being fond of Formula One-themed colour schemes back in the day — 2005 NSX that Acura had on display at the unveiling of its recently rejuvenated supercar.
There I was, supposedly basking in the glory that is Acura’s new Super Handling All Wheel Drive Sport Hybrid, and what should happen but that I fall back in love with the original.
Ten-year-old supercars are not supposed to feel this modern. Or rev to 8,000 r.p.m. as freely as they just came off the assembly line. Or clip apexes as if 205/50ZR-15 front tires were somehow au courante supercar rubber. A car with a measly 290 horsepower — upgraded from the original’s 270 — is not supposed to feel this genuinely sporty. What form of black magic is it that NSXs weave? Is there some secret NSX fountain of youth? A sacrificial NSX turning to rust in a secretive Wildean attic, its suspension sagging so that its flesh and steel doppelgängers might enjoy perpetual supercar youth? Name any other car launched in 1990 that could pass muster in a 2016 showroom. I’ll save you the trouble of Googling Dorian Gray and remind you that 1990 was also the year Oldsmobile launched something called the Silhouette (yes, I barely remember it as well), the very first Elantra made its way into Hyundai showrooms (and we all remember how truly awful they were) and Plymouth gave us its Laser, a supposedly sporty little coupe that was so bad it barely lasted until 1994.
As for supercars, the NSX of the day had to contend with Ferrari’s notoriously wayward 348, Corvette’s irrelevant ZR-1 and Lamborghini, if you care to recollect, was making more money selling powerboat motors than supercars. No wonder Motor Trend called the NSX “the best sports car ever built.”
I almost didn’t drive it. It was a busy day, testing its long-awaited successor. Besides, I had driven one, what, 10 or 12 years ago? What could a 10-year-old car possibly teach me? Well, for one thing, that sometimes, just sometimes, age and guile do trump youth and exuberance. And that engineering, well executed, always stands the test of time, and some values — pride in craftsmanship, a rigid adherence to build quality and a determination always to exceed the standards of the day — never go out of fashion.
Acura may build only one supercar every 25 years, but it builds it for the ages.