Is the economy really so terrible now that even the profitable car companies think the world doesn't need their halo cars? I've just read an article over at EGMCartech.com that Honda is stopping development of their new NSX Supercar immediately. The reason? To focus on the hydrogen fuel-cell FCX Clarity (good call on this one), production Insight hybrid, and FC Sport concept. By the way, if you haven't seen the FC Sport, it really looks like a kit-car version of the Lamborghini Reventon. Add to the pile Honda's formal withdrawal from Formula One racing, and basically what you have is one of the most awful castrations in the history of sports cars.

Now, I don't know about you guys, but I don't buy Honda building an eco sports car that looks like a Reventon. Honda should do what it does best, which is build amazing engines and drop them into well engineered, conservatively designed sports cars. The S2000 is still a competitive sports car, despite being virtually unchanged for 8 years, and he original NSX is one of the best driver's cars ever designed, period. It may not have had 500 horsepower and acceleration that would crush your skull and send your eyes out your lower intestine, but what it lacked in pulling ponies it more than made up for with one of the best balanced chassis in the history of sports cars.

Gordon Murray, designer of arguably the best sports car of all time, the McLaren F1, benchmarked the F1's chassis against the NSX's. Murray liked its slick Accord-based V6 so much, he originally approached Honda about building a V10 for the F1. Only when that didn't work out did Murray switch to BMW power. And at the time of its release, there were very few road cars on earth that could keep up with the NSX in the twisties. Ferrari? fuggedaboutit. The underpowered and underdeveloped 348 didn't stand a chance against the finely tuned NSX.

Fifteen years of production is an eternity for a supercar. During that time Honda made very few changes to the NSX, a testament to how fantastic the original car was. Upgrades included power steering, a six-speed gearbox, and T-Tops, along with a small bump in displacement from 3.0L to 3.2L. This was good for an extra 20hp, with the final NSX-T making 290hp at the crank. I know several NSX owners, many of whom purchased their cars new, who've used them as daily drivers for years. Some have over 200,000 miles. I don't know a single person who has had major engine failure, major suspension failure, or a major failure of any kind with these cars. They simply change the oil and do the regular maintenance, and the NSX seems to run forever.

The new NSX looks like it could be even better. With a 500+ hp, front-mid mounted V10, a shrieking exhaust wail, and the reliability we've come to expect from Honda's product range, the new NSX really had potential. Sadly, the car world has gone and taken a huge dump on itself, and all of a sudden every car company assumes their halo car needs to be a Hybrid, or an electric, or something equally awful that I want no part of (go hydrogen!). I want to know Honda can build that stuff, and I'm glad they put their Formula One engineers to work saving the world instead of out on the street, but I've been waiting patiently since 2005 for Honda to take the lessons learned from the first NSX to the next level, and now it's not going to happen. I feel like I've been had.

I'll just go and speculate here: The new NSX would have been the best car ever. It wouldn't have been the absolute fastest, the absolute prettiest, or the most expensive, but it would have been faster than 99% of the world's population can take advantage of. It would have been engineered to perfection. It would have been reasonably priced, considering the technology that's no doubt gone into the car, and it would have given the Benchmark Rockstar Nissan GTR a run for its money. Oh, and it would easily run for 200k miles without any major services or problems. The interior would have been simple and functional, not extravagant, but built with very low tolerances so fit and finish would be exceptional, and hold together for many years. The seats would be the most comfortable in the business.
It would have been the best car ever. Except now it won't.
For shame.