#HondaS660

While the whole world waited for the next Acura NSX, Honda quietly went about preparing an entirely different kind of mid-engine sports car for its home market.

Honda’s newest sports car, the S660, channels the diminutive, kei-class Beat more than the venerated S2000. I still love it.

Japan’s Mag-X got their first look at the new Honda S660, successor to the Beat sports car, at an event in Hokkaido. Also spied in the background, a camo’d Civic Type-R.

Seen as a successor to the early ’90s Honda Beat kei car, the new S660 roadster, which will go into production in 2014, was introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show. The midengined car, as the nomenclature indicates, is powered by a 660cc three cylinder turbocharged engine driving through a seven speed paddle shifted transmission. While kei cars are meant specifically for the Japanese domestic market, there is a possibility that it might be sold, with modifications in other countries. Honda senior designer Ryo Sugiura, when asked about selling the little roadster outside of Japan, said, “I cannot tell you if it will or will not. It’s a secret. The car would certainly need some re-engineering.”