You Can Already Buy A Third-Gen Honda NSX For Half The Price Of A New One

This week, we learned that there will, after all, be a third-generation Honda/Acura NSX. Such a thing has been in doubt due to the second-gen version’s slow sales. Acura VIPs might insist that making money wasn’t the point, but it surely stung to see a mere 128 examples shifted across the US in 2020. In the UK meanwhile, only a small handful were sold in the last few years.

One thing that’s never helped the NSX‘s chances is the price. Before it was taken off sale here recently, buyers were changed £190,000 for an NSX with some optioned. That’s about £70,000 more than a nicely-specced Audi R8, and in the ballpark of things like the Ferrari F8 Tributo and the Lamborghini Huracan Evo.

The NSX is a genuinely exciting car to drive, but when compared with established players featuring bigger engines and considerably lower weight figures, it’s a hard sell. And that’s before you consider the cabin, much of which isn’t much plusher than what you get in a Civic. Finally, is the average supercar buyer really going to want to blow nearly £200,000 on something with that’s a Honda? The big H badges don’t bother us in the slightest, but for the sort of people actually buying these things, their presence might not be appreciated so much.

You don’t need to spend anywhere near that much to buy one now, though. In fact, it’s possible to snag an NSX for less than half that figure. One sold via an online auction recently for a mere £86,500, and although we can’t find one as cheap as that currently, this 2017 130R White example isn’t too far off at £94,995.

Suddenly, the NSX seems a whole lot more appealing. That’s Porsche 911 Carrera money, and for that kind of cash, you can’t even get a Ferrari 458 Italia that’s been kicking around for six years longer. Our NSX classifieds pick has only one former owner who’s covered 9,706 since the car was registered four and a bit years ago.

The advert from West End Honda Dundee has an appallingly brief description which (not including what looks to be a copy-pasted or auto-generated NSX standard spec list) consists of just seven words. We get the colour (gee, thanks), confirmation of the single former owner, the price and the registration date. And that’s your lot.

We can at least see from the images that the NSX has carbon ceramic brakes, which were an £8,400 option. You’ll appreciate those, as this is a fast car. Working together with a trio of electric motors - one attached to the crank, the others powering the front wheels - the unusual, 75-degree V6 hybrid makes for a total output of 571bhp.

Its 1770kg weight figure seems pretty bulky when the McLaren Artura is several hundred kilograms lighter despite having a far larger battery pack, but the NSX never feels anything like that heavy. It sounds good, too.

Tempted?