Honda stopped production of its legendary roadster only nine years ago and there are plenty of good examples for sale but this one almost sold for half a hundred thousand!
The owner’s manual for the Honda S2000 says you shouldn’t drive your roadster hard for the first 500 miles with revs under 5,500 RPMs, effectively keeping your engine out of VTEC. It looks like this 2001 Honda S2000 only drove 500 miles past break-in before it hit “Bring a Trailer’s” auction block. As per Bring A Trailer and their official auction results which wrapped up for this low-mile high-revver earlier yesterday (Nov 6, 2018) the final bidder placed a whopping $48,000 winning bid subsequently entering BAT history as the highest bid for an S2000, ever.
Sold: 1k-Mile 2000 Honda S2000 for $48,000. https://t.co/iRxRaVoxm3 pic.twitter.com/7mYhgEUoAH
— Bring a Trailer (@Bringatrailer) November 6, 2018
A look at winning bids for Honda S2000’s confirms that this winning bid was defintiely an outlier. Most Honda S2000’s in decent shape fetch around $20,000 with the really excellent examples tacking on another $10K.
As mentioned before, this is no ordinary Honda S2000, it’s got just 1,001 miles on the odometer. First delivered new to Blair Honda in Pennsylvania, this 2000 Honda S2000 spent most of its life on the dealership floor and holed away in storage until the dealership folded in 2013. At that point, the car was registered and as the listing says, approximately 988 miles were added to the 12 delivery miles, bringing the final mileage where it is today.
The photos of the Honda S2000 are absolutely amazing, especially the undercarriage shots which show a pristine Honda S2000 with nary a spec of dust sullying the roadster’s chassis.
I particularly enjoy the shots from underneath. This is 1,000 miles S2000 that sold for $48K on BAT yesterday.Those keys, still sharp with all its peaks and valleys and everything underneath, literally factory fresh. Mmmm.https://t.co/yLJ4UO09AF pic.twitter.com/hsrxD5FNQP
— Paulo nonVTEC Acoba (@ferio_252) November 8, 2018
As you can imagine, nothing was restored and no maintenince was needed before putting this Honda S2000 for sale. It’s only got 1,000 miles and, it’s a Honda, after all.
Allow me to indulge you with the tail of the tape that is the gem of an engine under the hood. It’s a naturally aspirated 2.0L screamer with 240 HP and 153 lb-ft, redline is a generous 8,300 RPM. When it debuted, this engine was the most powerful engine per liter, ever.
According to S2Ki.com, unofficially, Honda made around 66,680 S2000’s, so don’t let this price scare you away from this gem. There are PLENTY of used S2000’s out there for not this ludicrous amount if you’re hankering for one.
Source: Bring A Trailer
I designed for Honda for 30 years but never did the S-2000. (A YOUNG JAPANESE KID, RIGHT OUT OF SOME SCHOOL IN TOKYO DESIGNED IT). The 1st S-2000 in the US, my wife and I did a driving trip from L,A. to Napa and back. We were not on the Long Beach Freeway for more than a mile when I hit a piece of road trash and dented the rocker panel. My wife wouldn’t let me get one as we already had to many car but in 2002, I ordered a Spa Yellow and the only one in the U.S with FACTOR yellow seat, you talk about sharp and it only has 19000 miles on it. The current plan is to give it to out youngest son-in-laws once I get to old to drive it. He takes extremely great care of his vehicles and will probably last for another 50 plus years and still with low miles. It fun to put the top down and drive up the Pacific, gets as much attention as a Ferrari. (WHICH WILL BE MY NEXT TOY FERRARI 328, Red and Tan )
Hi Doug,
Thanks for sharing your experiences with the S2000, yellow with yellow seats must be extremely uncommon if not rare.
Designing for Honda, what are some of your best projects you worked on, if I might ask?