A Temple of VTEC forum member unexpectedly found 1 of 51 Acura NSX Zanardi Editions #48.
NSX Prime, one of the unofficial repositories on all things Acura NSX, has been keeping track of all the Acura NSX Zanardi Editions in the United States. Out of the 51 known Zanardi’s, NSX Prime doesn’t have information on who owns 15 of them. That number is now 14 because 1999 Acura NSX Zanardi Edition #48’s whereabouts are now known.
Check out the post on Instagram below with photos of #48. Also, here’s the VTEC.net thread chronicling the discovery.
And here’s how this TOV member found #48,
“The last few weeks I was taking a class at someone’s house. The second to last day I pulled up and there was a black 1st gen NSX in the place I usually park.
Turns out it was the teachers husband’s car (who had not been there the previous times). I went inside and asked who’s car it was and he said ‘it’s mine, you know what it is?! You like cars?!”
I told him that I did and I am a Honda/ Acura guy. He pointed to the garage and said “check this out” “
These NSX’s and their whereabouts is always a hot topic because the Zanardi NSX is so rare, only made for one year in limited amounts.
A Zanardi NSX in good condition fetched over $126,000 in a Bring A Trailer auction. This one’s #44.
To commemorate two-time CART championship driver Alex Zanardi and his back-to-back wins for Honda in 1997 and 1998, 51 special edition Zanardi’s were commissioned and made with #1 going to Alex himself.
These Zanardi edition NSX’s boast a host of light-weighting measures, most notably a manual rack-and-pinion steering system (-32 pounds,) special lightweight BBS alloy wheels (-8.8 pounds), a lightweight rear spoiler (-3.7 pounds,) special lightweight battery (-6.7 pounds) and a fixed hardtop (-95 pounds) among other weight-saving measure.
Compared to the NSX-T which this NSX was based on, there’s a total 149 pounds of weight savings.
Although the engine’s been untouched, improvements in the suspension made this NSX extremely aggressive on the track. Shocks, springs, and bushings were all firmed up and anti-roll bars are marginally thicker compared to its stock counterpart.
All Zanardi NSX editions received commemorative plaques numbering
Zanardi’s come in one color, Formula Red.
We don’t have more information about #48 including who owns it, what condition it’s in, mileage, or if it’s even driven regularly. And that’s fine since I’m sure the owner would like to keep his identity anonymous.
We know that it’s being taken cared for and found a good home, which is the important thing, really.
