We’ve been teased, got the rumor mill going, and pined over a baby NSX, but according to Acura, it’s NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
Remember this date, February 1, 2018 as the day you officially found out that Acura will no longer be actually making a mini-me Acura NSX. According to Autoguide earlier this week (Jan. 28,2018) in an off-the-cuff interview with Acura’s Senior Manager and Brand Leader Emile Korkor, Acura’s Baby NSX is not going to happen. Not only is it not going to happen, it never was really a “thing” for Acura to begin with.
When questioned about the prospect of a real-life Acura ZDX makings its way into showrooms, Korkor responded by saying, “Who wouldn’t love a baby NSX?”
The brand leader for Acura says that a baby NSX would be fantastic, but there is nothing on the horizon. He did say that Acura is always looking to expand the brand’s hybrid technology and that it’s being used less for the purpose of fuel efficiency and more for performance.
Our hopes weren’t entirely unfounded. As far back as 2015, Acura tweeted out an image of what looked like a baby NSX, a tweet that arguably got this whole shebang started in the first place.
The grand opening of the new Honda Silicon Valley R&D facility featured the 2016 Accord reveal and more! #HondaSV pic.twitter.com/h1eo3LYpnP
— Honda (@Honda) July 25, 2015
Later on that year, Acura dropped a couple of patent images with that prototype they tweeted out.
American Honda Boss Knows, But Tight-Lipped, About ‘Baby NSX’ – http://t.co/foZrT79qGc pic.twitter.com/dtVJaGxDDl
— The Truth About Cars (@TTAC) July 14, 2015
A couple years later, we actually saw another prototype, the same one in that first tweet, being rolled around in the flesh.
Acura ZSX. Never forget. ???? pic.twitter.com/MM5rlXrRLK
— Paulo Acoba ???? (@ferio_252) July 20, 2017
Then, later last year Acura released this ZSX as an add-on for Playstation’s Gran Turismo and dubbed it the Honda Sports Vision Gran Turismo.
This is the virtual #Honda Sports Vision Gran Turismo concept, coming soon to the new GT Sport game: https://t.co/c3oF9zc4iz pic.twitter.com/OyhAARW2M5
— Auto Express (@AutoExpress) November 13, 2017
Although a Baby NSX isn’t in the cards, it doesn’t mean that people within Honda won’t stop making these types of proposals in the first place. Some have pegged a baby NSX to be a spiritual successor to the Honda S2000. Last year we reported that Honda is still open to that platform given enough backing from sales.
Honda can make a Baby NSX if they wanted too, it just needs to be at the right time, with the right technology, and with enough backing from supporters and from within.
