Auto Reverie: Car of the Day: Acura NSX

Often times I find myself thinking about the future, and as a car guy, that typically means endless hours spent perusing the internet for incredibly impractical used sports cars that my brilliant, dashing, well-traveled, and extraordinarily wealthy future self could potentially buy. A few weeks ago I became particularly intrigued by the thought of owning what was—until the launch of the Lexus LFA—the sexiest sports car to ever come out of Japan: the NSX.

A lot of people seem to hate on the NSX for it's sub-300 horsepower rating, but let's not forget what it was up against back in '91: Corvettes and Carreras at the time were putting out 250 bhp, and even Ferrari's 358 only made 300. Unfortunately for the 270 horsepower Acura, one year after its release Chevy's new LT1 V8 debuted in the C4, matching the Corvette's power with that of the 358—which sounded impressive until Dodge unleashed their 400 bhp Viper that same year.

The years went on and power numbers rose across the board until the NSX was killed off in 2005 when comparably priced Corvettes were making upwards of 400 horsepower—not to mention the new Viper's 500—while the NSX seemed like it was still watching reruns of Darkwing Duck on betamax with its 290 bhp.

Not to worry though, yesterday's over-engineered future car is today's bargain, right? Well—slight problem: You can get yourself into a C4 Vette for the price of a handful of jellybeans and a used handkerchief, but if you want to park 3000 lbs. of aluminum Acura in your garage you'll be looking at upwards of $25k; double that if don't want the flip-up headlights.

For whatever reason though, none of this is enough to stop me from lusting after one. A properly set-up, lightweight, as-much-power-as-you-need exotic lite. Now seven years out of production, a used example is a cheaper alternative to a new Cayman R or Evora S with a sleek yet understated body that's not quite as ostentatious as a McLamberrari. The addition of a steering wheel and shift knob from the JDM-only NSX-R easily turns the interior into one of my absolute favorites, and makes a C6 ZR-1's look like a parts-bin sourced afterthought (which it probably is). Not only that, but with Acura's everyday supercar you get Honda reliability—plus titanium connecting rods.

Bring on the second gen!