Final Lap: Acura Halts Regular Series Production of NSX

Attention, future Barrett-Jackson bidders: The final Acura NSX Type S was completed today at the brand’s Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio. Billed as the last production NSX, the Gotham Gray coupe – number 350 of 350 – was allegedly shilled off to a private collection.

But, as with most things in the automotive world, ‘last’ doesn’t actually mean everyone’s fired and sent home. That’s because the PMC crew is now tasked with assembling a limited run of Acura TLX Type S PMC Edition sedans, available in one of three NSX-derived colors and limited to just 300 total units. When the company opened its order books for Curva Red and 130R White models, all 200 examples were apparently reserved in just a few minutes. The next 100-car offering, Long Beach Blue, will be available for reservations beginning December 8th and will likely sell out just as quickly.

As for the NSX, it’s been an interesting ride, showing up on showroom floors in 2016 after what seemed like an elephantine gestation period. Rumors first began swirling a decade earlier, culminating in a whole lotta nothing once the world’s economy took a nosedive in the late ‘00s. Reports again surfaced a couple of years later, with a production model first displayed at the 2015 auto show in Detroit.

Students of the industry will remember that was also the year in which Ford stunned us all with the surprise GT, taking some wind out of Acura’s sails since they surely expected to be the top-billed supercar at that year’s event. To say image is important in this industry is a massive understatement, and there’s an argument to be made that Ford’s successful attempt at stealing Acura’s thunder (the NSX reveal was widely anticipated) may have set the table for that car’s odd – and sometimes lukewarm – reception on the global stage in the years to come.

Still, six years of production is nothing to sneeze at, nor is the total of 2,908 sales during its lifetime. As a refresher, the NSX had a hybrid powertrain comprised of a twin-turbo V6 and a passel of electric motors, all of which were good for 573 horsepower or 602 ponies in the end-of-run Type S edition.

Will we see another NSX at some point in the future? With some companies belting out all-electric hypercars with four-figure horsepower, it is certainly possible.

[Image: Acura]

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