(first posted 11/26/2017) Boston’s trendy South End district is an ever-desirable location, featuring numerous cozy bistros, bars, and cafes, a combination of classical brick bow-fronts and modern luxury high-rises that cost a fortune to no one’s surprise, and a wonderful mix of diversity that makes for a very neighborhoody feel less than a mile’s walk from downtown Boston. It’s also home to a very diverse mix of cars, from brand new luxury cars to early-00s mainstream cars to 1990s premium cars. A few exotics can also be found, like this 1996 Acura NSX-T that I stumbled upon while walking to meet a friend for Sunday brunch.
The current Honda/Acura NSX, a $150,000+ hybrid supercar featuring total output of 573 horsepower from its gasoline and electric engines, and a zero-to-sixty time of under three seconds is without a question, a technological marvel, even if it gets lost in a growing field of hybrid supercars. Regardless, most of us enthusiasts will forever associate the NSX with the original, Honda’s all-aluminum bodied supercar which debuted in 1990 and famously benchmarked the Ferrari 348.
These days, original NSXs with more than a few miles can easily fetch upwards of $50,000 — hardly cheap, but decidedly a bargain for a head-turning 1990s supercar, especially when compared to the modern NSX. I can’t say whether it would serve as an ideal daily driver, but the original NSX-T (“T” for targa top) would certainly make for an entertaining Sunday driver.
Photographed in Boston’s South End – November 2017
I still remember the first NSX I ever saw. A trial lawyer from a small county seat city near me won a big jury verdict. That was what he bought. I was impressed. It was certainly the only one in his county.
Very nice ! .
It appear The Southie has changed quite a bit since I hung out there in 1962…..
-Nate
Indeed!
Both the South End and Southie areas have cleaned up a lot in the past two decades. Property values start around $500,000 currently, and that’s typically for a 600-square foot studio or 1-bedroom if lucky!
WOW .
I remember the MTA trolley getting shot at as it went out to Columbia Point….
I also have _very_ fond memories of riding the electric trolley bus’ in Winter ~ they were never, _EVER_ cold inside .
PCC trolleys, etc., etc.
Sometimes I miss Boston then I wake up .
-Nate
The NSX was widely considered to be the one “supercar” that actually could be driven every day, climate permitting. Just as easy to drive and live with as for example its younger cousin, the photo-bombing Honda Odyssey behind it in the picture.
My enduring memory of these is of my future wife at the time (mid-90’s) driving north in her Cressida on US-101 in Thousand Oaks, CA with me following behind in my car. Two lanes over was a black NSX which signaled and then moved over to be next to her and held station. A few seconds later she signals, moves her head to check, and being 5’2″ completely overlooks the NSX in her blind spot and starts to move over. Thankfully the NSX driver took fast evasive action by quickly moving over himself and accelerating past. She continues moving over into the lane and continues on, having no idea of what almost occurred and having never noticed anything when I asked about it at the next stop.
They were/are very nice cars, the time to buy was probably in the early to mid 2000’s, I recall them commonly costing in the $30k range. Now they are appreciating and rarely seen in the wild. Good find!
You know what booster seats are for, right?
Yikes! That could have been a scary accident. The NSX’s low overall height undoubtedly contributed to her not seeing it. From the rear pic you can see just how low its profile it. The roof looks no higher than the decklid on the 5 Series parked in front.
That increasingly happened to me in a 300ZX Turbo (dark silver) as SoCal freeways became dominated by large SUVs – they just didn’t see the Z and would cut me off time and again. A definite hazard of low-slung cars.
One of my neighbors got one of the first NSXs, trading in a 300ZX. It was an automatic (as were his several Zs) and used as a daily driver in LA for many years – a very civilized performance car.
I usually see exotics on that section of US-101.
Honda often develops unusual, “outlier” models like this. S2000 and CR-Z are other examples. OTOH, Toyota prefers the safe play.
Some folks might consider the Supra, MR2, Previa, and Prius as outliers.
I think only the 2-seat MR2 was an outlier. Supra was in the hotly contested sports-coupe market, Previa was aimed at families, and Prius is everywhere today.
The Previa and the Prius are probably the only outliers mentioned. It was different in that it was mid engined and RWD minivan in an era where most of their competitors were sedan based front engine FWD, but it did not last long. The Sienna that replaced it followed the Chrysler minivan formula much more closely.
The MR2 was similar to the Previa in that it was also mid engined and rear wheel drive, although it was also very similar to the Pontiac Fiero, so it really was not much of an outlier for the time.
The first gen Prius followed the Honda Insight, but was styled more conservatively and had four doors vs the Honda’s two doors. The GM Impact also had two doors, although it was a pure electric car, not a hybrid. Four doors is probably one of the main reasons the Prius is still around and the Insight is gone. So it can be outlier in that it was an electric Hybrid with four doors.
The Supra was not radically different from competitors such as the Nissan Z series.
Perhaps I was misunderstood by use of the term “outlier.” I meant in terms of market share and not technology. There is nothing all that technically unusual about Italian-mode supercars; NSX is simply a well-executed species of that genus. But any car with only two seats will not have a large market share.
Great Looking car.It Always Reminds Me Of Pulp fiction.
I rode one when I lived in Dallas. A friend of mine worked at Acura sales centre, and the first wave of NSX was being prepared for a customer. He bribed the technician to give me a ride while taking NSX out for a test spin.
To tell you the truth, the car felt totally underwhelmed and more of what’s-the-point-of-building-a-NSX thinking. The V6 motor didn’t seem as exciting or exotic as V8 or V12 motors. That might have doomed the NSX from the start…
When these cars first appeared, I thought “what a great way to top the Acura lineup” and proof that Acura could do no wrong.
When I look at these NS-X now, I’m still impressed, but now they seem like “the Honda Accord” of supercars….and that’s barely a compliment.
This NSX was proof positive that the phrase “Reliable Supercar” was not a contradiction of terms.
It seems like the original NSX was in production as long as the current model NSX was teased to the public. For that reason alone the original wins, but the design itself is so tidy and restrained, yet sporty in just the right ways(like much of Honda’s products were when it was conceived).
The new one just doesn’t cut it, it looks as overwrought and bloated as the rest of Honda/Acura’s products made in the last ten years. It’s novel hybrid system was the single reason it even had a purpose to exist – “the first hybrid supercar” – but they teased it so damn long that it came to market the exact same time Ferrari and Porsche did too(can it even claim “first” as far as who chronologically sold one first?).
I’ve seen a couple of NSX’ around my area, and I always thought the styling was really proportioned and in a word, timeless, for a super car. For the longest time, the NSX was the only Honda automobile I had any interest in, and it’s still what I would go for today. (Although, I would be a weirdo and remove all the Acura badging and replace it with Honda badging like the overseas markets)
Also, it manages to be one of the few designs I think of where it looks best in white, which is an incredibly rare accomplishment in my opinion.
What a great design. At 21 years old, it doesn’t look dated at all.
Very cool street find. I rarely see these, recent sightings include a red one at Cars and Coffee last year and a street parked Brooklands green one in La Jolla, CA a few years back.
Some days I’m tempted to trade my MKIV Supra for a first gen NSX but we’ll see.
The original Honda/ Acura NSX is masterwork of holistic design. Much has been written about its importance in ways far exceeding my abilities so I wont go on about them. I simply love its chameleon-esque ability to blend in yet it attracts attention from those in the know. As stealthy a sports car can be.
Festina Lente Sam……..
-Nate
It’s one of those rare cars that attracts compliments – even from those who have to ask what it is!
One of those Hondas that looked perhaps a bit anonymous when new, but yes, the design has become timeless. One cannot go into the garage and not stare at it.
It has the visibility of a goldfish bowl, so one can actually use its abilities. And that induction gurgle is a bit addictive – Yo VTEC!
I was anticipating the release of the NSX as I was a Japanese car fan, and had owned a Civic SI and a few Datsun Z cars. From what I read, one of the things that dulled demand was the dealer’s adding on a huge extra mark up. While it was an impressive car, a lot of buyers didn’t feel that it was worth the extra cost. These were the kind of buyers that could afford to buy anything that they wanted. A couple of years ago I saw one in a Harbor Freight parking lot, and as I was admiring it, the owner walked out. During our conversation he told me that he had admired the car when it was introduced, but couldn’t afford/justify buying it back then. Twenty five years later, he found one in nice original condition with low miles. I’ll bet that he holds onto it for a long time.