Acura's $200K NSX Isn't a Concept, But This Car Will Be
Honda announced Friday that it had found a logjam in its news department, and summarily fixed the problem by releasing a month’s worth of news for the automaker in about an hour.
The logjam apparently precluded the release of information it had for the North American International Auto Show next month, namely an Acura sedan concept with hood lines like an NSX and hips like a Playmate.
The so-dubbed “Precision Concept” will make its bow next month and foretell the company’s future plans for performance sedans. According to Car and Driver, Acura general manager John Ikeda said there was much to be read into the car’s long hood — which may mean a longitudinally mounted mill and rear-wheel drive.
The logjam also help up pricing for the delayed 2017 Acura NSX, which should hit showrooms in spring and cost a cool $156,000 to start before an equally dear $1,800 shipping charge.
(Are they sending it via space shuttle? As in, they’re charging by the pound? — Aaron)
The initial $156,000 MSRP may not get you very far — the company announced a top-range NSX would run $205,700 with all the options ticked. The NSX will be offered in eight exterior colors, with three interior color options available and lots of carbon fiber options all the way around if you have TSX-money you want to blow on fancy trim bits.
Interestingly, Acura is taking the Lexus LF-A/Ford GT approach to selling the limited NSX, in that each car will be built-to-order, according to Acura. Its online configurator will go live on Feb. 25, and customers can make deposits online before finalizing the purchase at a specified NSX dealer.
The announcement of a direct-purchase agreement from manufacturer to buyer may suggest that Acura has negotiated a pre-determined payout with its dealers for just picking up a customer’s check.
So, why don’t we do that more often?
Oh yeah, and we’ll get a peek at the new Ridgeline this year during the Super Bowl.
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The Ridgeline is interesting. Another "sedan" with a roofline designed for chauffeuring midgets around, not so much. And ditto for a "supercar" from a company where the last guy to care one iota about "fast," retired from the engineering department 15 years ago. I'm a bit of a Honda fanboi, but until the sun that rose on those guys a few decades ago, gets around to do the same over here, any overlap between their priorities and those of most car blog reading Americans, will remain fairly coincidental.
Funny stuff. For better or worse, the truth is, a lot of people are driving around in pristine full sized trucks where the bed had never had anything in it that couldn't fit in the trunk of a modern Camaro. My basic test is, can I get a 4x8 sheet of plywood home from the hardware store? Can I drive a refrigerator 20 miles in it? Not sure if the Ridgeline would pass that test. I am not above standing a sofa up in the bed and tying it to whatever is available.