On a recent walk to the market, I spotted something brightly colored parked on the street about a block away. I’m not that interested in exotics anymore, but 50 years ago I might have had a poster of this current generation Acura NSX on my bedroom wall instead of a Lamborghini Miura.
Although I live in a college town, late model expensive cars aren’t common here at all; in fact I think this may be the first NSX of any vintage that I’ve seen locally. It was parked in front of the city fire department offices, and far enough out from the curb that it looked a little close to passing traffic to be safe. At least it was an eye-catching color. And I decided it was worth snapping a shot, which inspired me to keep an eye out for other, more CC-worthy cars while out on my errands.
I didn’t have to go far, just a few blocks. Now to those readers who are outside North America, especially in Australia and New Zealand, this may be an everyday sight, but the Land Cruiser J70 wagon was never imported here.
Sure enough, right hand drive. Automatic, though, so perhaps imported from Japan and not from Down Under. Turbo diesel, presumably a big inline four. The Prado name has never been used here, but similar vehicles are sold as the Lexus GX and Toyota 4Runner, mostly gasoline V6 though earlier generations of each were available with the Toyota corporate V8.
California plates, and the Hwy 9 sticker suggests its a local, so I may see it around again (the ENS sticker refers to Ensenada, Mexico). With these two sightings, I decided that my grocery errand might be a good CC day, so I kept my eyes open, and I was rewarded in another few blocks.
Once again, a bright color caught my eye. Definitely from the later years of this model, but Fiat logo’ed, so presumably no newer than 1981, after which they were briefly sold in the US under the Pininfarina name, by none other than Malcolm Bricklin. Other than the bent antenna, this 124 Spider was in excellent visual condition.
Homeward bound now, I spotted a Toyota Previa. I was about to cross the street to get a better picture, but realized that I could catch a trio of at least semi-CC vehicles. Honestly full-sized American vans are so common here, often serving as people’s only homes, that I almost didn’t notice the Dodge van conversion right in front of me. And that bland Japanese hatchback, even less eye-catching, is the not-too-common second generation, four door Honda Insight hybrid. A car at first almost indistinguishable from a Gen2 Prius, but without the Toyota’s edginess it just seemed like a me-too product and the market ignored it. And of course by the time it was launched here, the new Gen3 Prius looked fresh again.
What would a walk be without an aero Panther? They’re still quite common around here, though mostly black and white with a lightbar on the roof, and an armed and uniformed driver. This one was a little unusual being a Mercury, not a Crown Victoria. And cleaner than most of the non-police Panthers that are left prowling the streets. Later in the day, I saw two more Grand Marquis.
What’s this, you ask? What’s so special about a VW Passat B5.5 wagon? Look closely … those four tailpipes aren’t Pep Boys add ons, this is a genuine W8, 4Motion, six speed manual. 4 liters, 271 horsepower, only sold for 3 years. The eGolf parked in front of it actually lasted longer here, and according to Wikipedia sold more units than the VW W8. I think I can pretty categorically state that there will never be another VW-badged eight cylinder car, while the eGolf set the stage for the future of VW.
A handful of Curbside Classics, an exotic supercar, a fresh loaf of sourdough from a great local bakery plus a few other groceries, and a bit of exercise. A good Spring day.
I would love to have an NSX in my garage. Right now its a toss up between a new Corvette or the NSX but I’m pretty sure the NSX wins.
In reality my aged domestic sedan needs a bath tonight.
When I saw the first photo above, I thought it was a C8 Corvette, which sort of encapsulates my problem with it. I get that the mid-engine configuration is more modern and better handling, but to me the Corvette formula is what it was through the C7’s (minus the first couple of years) – a RWD front-engine two seater with a V8 that was uniquely American. Now it’s a bargain exotic (if that isn’t an oxymoron) that has a more foreign flavor. So better perhaps on an absolute basis, but to me it’s lost its identity.
That’s what troubles me with it as well, I don’t dislike the styling or dismiss its capabilities but part of the charm with the Corvette was it was not just America’s sports car but it did it it’s own way. What I hate about the C8 is it gives off the perception that mid engine is the only right way to build a competent global supercar, which is nonsense, the C5-6-7 were all very capable performers in their times, and Ferrari went from mid engine BACK to front engine with their V12 models. I get it McLaren is what all the kids want these days, and the C8 Corvette is the new cheaper alternative presented to aspirational but (slightly)less affluent people who dream of one.
I mean I guess that was the intention of the Corvette at its outset when the 53 wasn’t all that different from typical sports cars of 1953, but is there nothing to say about the identity it cultivated on its own afterwards? An identity the world stage spottily would dismiss for its unsophisticated iron V8, primitive chassis and plastic body… even after it would often whip their meticulously engineered and finely crafted Jaguars and Ferraris butts at the track. Defiance and triumph over the world’s standard is kind of the Corvettes thing, that’s the charm of it. The C8’’s only demerit to car snobs at this point is its pushrods, but there’s not much teeth to that jab these days. Most people I know who really like the C8 don’t like or respect C1-7 Corvettes, they like it because it’s a discount mid engined supercar, it could be called literally anything…. I don’t believe these would lose one sale if they were named some random alphanumeric jumble instead of Corvette.
Hey, the Mustang is now an electric CUV, the Corvette going mid-engine doesn’t seem like any kind of big deal comparatively. 🙂 It’s almost surprising the RAM TRX isn’t called the RAM Challenger…
They’ve been talking about a mid-engine Corvette for decades. This is the first time it actually looks like a car that sells for far more money than it actually does in about that same time frame. I don’t see myself buying any recent Corvette iteration, but this new format certainly brings new interest to the fold, that is, before it goes EV too as the CorEVette…, it’s likely not fast enough as is for some.
The most interesting thing though is getting rid of the Camaro soon when the biggest problem the Camaro faced (in some trims) was the similar (front-engine) format and performance compared to the Corvette. Now that there is something that may turn some people off of the Corvette they have nowhere else to go in the same stable. Of course it’s not that GM has done much to make the Camaro more appealing to more people, instead making it smaller and smaller inside with worse visibility seemingly every go-round.
It takes significantly more affluence to purchase and provide for a McLaren than a Corvette, isn’t it more than three times the price for the entry level McLaren vs the entry level Corvette? That’s both the appeal as well as the curse of the Corvette, many of the people buying couldn’t really care less about the performance but do care about looking like they can spend a lot of money (that they may not actually have). In other words, the Corvette is priced too low. The NSX is only slightly less than the McLaren and I’m sure people at Acura are having trouble sleeping with people out there thinking their car is a Corvette, no such issues with the prior NSX.
Like I said, I don’t mind the C8 itself, its more the idea many seem to harbor that the Corvette should have made this move to mid engine long ago, for which I don’t really think is fair. Plus the original plan to go mid engined coincided with a wankel engine replacing the V8, so its best not get too wrapped up in decades old intentions.
This is nothing like the passionate existential hatred I have for the Mach E. No, this is more like the irritation I had when I first heard the C6 didnt have pop up headlights, or the C7 didn’t have round taillights. this is change I know I’ll grow to like. As long as it keeps the Corvette a name undebased and alive I’m happy
Well, to be fair, the Mustang is still around in its original configuration, so the Mustang E is borrowing its name rather than supplanting the Mustang.
Discussing whether a car still deserves its classic name is a bit like discussing how many “voices” (both human and instrumental) a classic rock band must lose before it’s not the same band worthy of the same name. I’ve always thought that when a band loses its lead singer and its lead instrumentalist (whatever that might be), it’s pretty much dead. On the other hand, the Who’s four individuals were each so unique that the loss of Keith Moon pretty much ended the Who for me.
Bringing this all back to cars – since a V8 in the front was one of the ‘Vette’s biggest attributes, moving it might have made a better car, but to me it’s just not a “Vette. So, if I wanted a bargain supercar and didn’t care about anything else, I’d buy a C8, If I wanted a ‘Vette, I’d look for a good deal on a C6, as to me that was the peak of the prior iteration, only because (again to me) the C7’s styling is just a bit too overwrought.
Your mileage may vary. BTW, I respect your writing and your evaluation of new cars, a hell of a lot.
Thanks Alan, I was razzing Matt a little bit there with the Mustang comment. At this point the Mustang still outsells the planned Mach-E production so I doubt it’s going anywhere. It’s only named a Mustang to generate publicity and get people talking about it, there’s no such thing as bad publicity and it’s obviously working when EV-nonfans talk about it. If it was the Edge ST-EV instead half the people wouldn’t have talked about it and Matt wouldn’t buy one either way so it seems like a win for Ford, it spreads the word that there’s a new EV in town that’ll most likely have demand exceeding the constrained supply. I still think that they need to produce two more variants with the same platform and EV bits if they want and are eventually able to increase production – one for Lincoln and perhaps in fact that Edge ST-EV. I mean look at Tesla and the Model 3 and Y – It’s basically the exact same thing underneath and inside, with the body shape and configuration the only real difference while being in two completely different segments. In that case the similar look was on purpose, making them visually very different from each other would not be difficult.
And, yes Matt, I agree with you that the C6’s loss of hidden headlights was annoying but not a deal breaker; however, the loss of the round tailights was one of the things that doomed the C7 for me. Personal quirk I guess.
But then again, I’m a graduate of the school that taught that any B body Chevrolet with triple tailights better be an Impala, and an “Impala” with any less, isn’t an Impala.
The only Grand Marquis here in Uruguay, originally brought in by the American Embassy (I suppose as a staff car) is for sale. Exactly the same color, it’s a 2011 LS model. I’ve been thinking about getting it. Here’s the ad, dont get too scared about the price. This is another world in that respect. If some Panther expert were so kind to tell me where to look for problems….:)
https://auto.mercadolibre.com.uy/MLU-475710239-mercury-grand-marquis-46-v-8-origen-diplomatico-_JM#position=1&search_layout=grid&type=item&tracking_id=c041d3ed-1071-4fec-aad8-5acab3640354
I saw a late model car in pretty much the exact same color in front of my office. Not until I zoomed in on it did I learn it was a Corvette. You see I stopped recognizing Corvettes some years ago.
Then an hour later this white car appeared which I initially thought might be a Jaguar based on the curves up front. Zooming in gave away the logo on the wheels. Have only seen two Bentleys in my life and the other was more sedan like.
That’s an Aston Martin, I don’t know what happened to their design talent but they turned what were really attractive designs a mere decade ago into gaudy boy racer designs with blackout everywhere
I see that the logos for both Bentley and Aston Martin are very similar and when very small (wheels) so they look identical. So that makes it one Bentley and one Aston Martin.
I had to see the Acura logo up close before it even occurred to me that it was an NSX. And while I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a few of the mid-engined Vettes, it’s very possible they were Acura’s.
“this 124 Spider was in excellent visual condition.”
You wisely made no claims about mechanical condition, but keeping an old Fiat on the road is impressive.
Yes, I chose my words carefully. Though I knew more than a few 124 owners back in the day who were quite happy with their cars as daily drivers.
Hey, I think I recognize the street where the NSX is parked. If that’s where I think it is, when I was visiting your city last summer I wanted to see the wig-wag signal near there in action, but I just missed the train heading towards the beach. So I ended up doing an impromptu walking tour of the neighborhood while I waited for the train to come back through in the other direction. I think I photographed as many CCs as Victorian houses.
The W8 is quite a catch. I caught one here a few years back. I guess folks hang on to them, until something big goes wrong anyway.
I remember test-driving a manual W8 wagon some years ago up the road from you in Burlingame. It…was alright but not overwhelming in any way. At the time the Audi S6 Avant was out of production again so this was one of the few ways to get a V(W)8 Euro wagon and with a stick at that. I don’t regret passing on it but would be all over taking pictures of one today as well!
The NSX looks quite good, for what it is, but like others I have trouble distinguishing it from several others unless quite close. I never had that problem with the original (still don’t). Maybe just due to that one being far more popular? I did see an orange one just like the one you found at the Tokyo Motor Show. Then someone opened the door and the interior was…red. I love a red interior but not with an orange exterior. It does not work.
Seems like your walk was quite productive, that’s a nice varied selection.
Nice NSX but not something I’d drive in reality, those early model Prados are getting scarce here now age and mileage has been catching up with them although badged Landcruiser they are actually Hilux based and share mechanicals with them rather than the bigger engines found in Landcruisers.
Colour on the roadster looks like Orchid a shade GMH put on many HQ Holdens back in the early 70s.