Here’s Why the Original Acura NSX Is Shooting Up in Value 

Garage "How many Skylines do you want in the background?" Doug "Yes."

So a fun story about the NSX. I worked as an engineer at the Honda Anna Engine Plant in Ohio back in the late 90's. They had an employee improvement plan where as you made suggestions for improvement, you got points if that improvement was implemented. At the end of the year you could spend your points on gifts, etc. One prize was a weekend with the NSX (we had one at our factory parked outside with other fleet vehicles). My supervisor won the NSX for a weekend and he took me out in it over a lunch break. We tore up the back roads for a half hour. It was an amazing experience!

Oh, to be a Japanese businessman in the 1990s driving to work in an NSX, listening to cassette tapes

Universally acclaimed as one of the most beautiful car designs of all time: 7/10.

now it'll go up more in value

This era NSX design is still striking after 30 years. Clean, simple yet evocative lines.

Acura makes a modern day NSX. Everyone: Dang, i really miss the original NSX..

Hi Doug, the "Half Antenna" button wasn't only for aesthetic purposes. It was so you don't damage the antenna when you drive your NSX inside buildings with low ceilings or low roof parking areas, a common thing in Japan. Also because the antenna was something like 50 cm long at full length.

*my dream car from my teenage years become unattainable to my adult self*

The O.G. NSX still looks good, even almost 30 years later.

Fun Fact: Ayrton Senna had a hand in the development of the NSX.

Maybe if Honda put that security light on the civic and accord they wouldn’t get stolen as much 😂

Doug is a type of guy who shoots a video of the early NSX without mentioning Senna's name at all.

Still can’t believe how bold and daring Honda was back in the day.

Excellent review, Doug, as usual. I just wanted to add a few points that I think are important and worth to be mentioned: Honda is still manufacturing and providing ALL PARTS for the NSX cars up to date, no matter which year it's been built. Moreover, later models parts are compatible with earlier ones, they are fully interchangeable. You can even change earlier popping lights to late fixed ones or vice versa. The blank button on the console of the model you reviewed is for the headlights height setting which curiously was an option. The NSX was the first mass production car that had a full aluminum chassis. Last fact/feature: the engine was the first in the world to have titanium rods to improve the revs

Really disappointed you didn’t talk about senna, the 8k rpm, and vtec.

Pop up headlights on a car for me as a kid were the coolest thing ever and still are

How dare my dream car from my teenage years become unattainable to my adult self!

Actually, you can operate climate control manually. Just push “mode” and auto mode will be switched to manual one. And push “auto” to switch back to automatic climate control.

I love watching Doug’s videos with my son. When it gets to the Doug Score, we end up shouting at the iPad to see who can guess his score!

A car that truly deserves a second video.

I really miss those clean and simple designs of the 90s and 2000s cars😔

11:36 - I remember the front wheels were 15" and the rear wheels were 16", which could also be considered a quirk. Around 1996, they received a new design and were increased to 16" and 17" respectively.

“A lot of people know the NSX as a targa model..” me, sitting here, unaware that it was ever offered with a removable roof...

You stole my video idea Doug. J/k

In my opinion this is a perfect sports car. Looks awesome, very simple and yet so good interior, the engine ? yeah not so powerful , but it is pretty good. Trunk? it has a nice trunk for what it is!. And finally, the driving feeling and handling. The NSX has it all, so for me i can say it is the "perfect" sports car!

Another thing that made the NSX special was it was one of the first street cars with variable valve timing, which was a HUGE thing in F1 in the late 80s and early 90s. Honda was big in F1 at the time. They took their variable valve timing and put it in the NSX. And VTEC was born.

The only car that Ayrton Senna was involved in the development.

Honda: not really know for sports car Also Honda: made the engine for the most successful F1 car of all time

The NSX is absolutely my favorite car design of all time. It is definitively timeless. I think as time passes its importance as a magnum opus of auto design will continue to solidify.

I'm old enough to remember the original magazine reviews on this car. At the time, it was regarded as nice, but underwhelming--reviewers walloped it hard for only making 250 hp compared to it's rivals. I do like the canopy-style roof---even in 2021, it still looks fresh and futuristic

Nah Doug. The half button is so you can pull into a low ceiling garage without the antenna hitting the ceiling. Super common in Japanese cars.

Imagine telling people that you own a 90s Honda, And then you pull up in this

Ayrton senna lives on in each and every one of us Honda enthusiast. When we take it to the rev limiter, smash the gear change , double clutch , heal and toe , rev matching , he smiles down knowing he helped inspire us to become the racers we dreamt of becoming.

Never seen an NSX in that color probably was never made available for the NA market. Such a stunning, yet simple, design. I'll end up owning one of these before I cease to exist.

Great review Doug! As an NSX owner I never noticed that the AC recirc buttons were profiled as a "bloated NSX" cool to point out the quirk. A few corrections: the original NSX has 270 HP not 250, and you said that this is somewhat of an ordinary engine. I would say that is in fact an extraordinary engine; it was Honda's first VTEC "yo" in a production car, it also has titanium connecting rods and an 8,000 rpm redline. Honda was at it's peak in F1 racing during that era and they wanted to show off with the NSX. So, that's not your everyday minivan V6. The wheels are 15" in front as you said, but they are 16" in the rear. It was purposely double staggered to make room for a dead pedal and to make the pedal placement proper (unlike it's Italian competition) and to make a low sleek hood-line. Those little wheels are super light since they are forged. By the way from the factory they came with bespoke super soft and sticky Yokohamas and a what many would consider a "track alignment" so grip was incredible even with the relatively small contact patches. This is also the 30th anniversary of the NSX. Unfortunately it's during covid so Honda could not have a big celebration of it's cost-no-object, hand built, 90's flagship vehicle this year. And yes the ignition key is cool too, it's heavy as you mentioned, but it's also made of Monel alloy which does not react to sweat. One final design aspect to point out--the whole chassis and body is aluminum, a first for production cars, and its a semi-monocoque design, not your typical uni-body. So the NSX is special, and people like me who wanted one in high school can finally attain one. That's really why the prices are steadily rising.

Horsepower was 270 in the 3.0L manual, when equipped with the automatic transmission it was 252 hp. The 3.2L with the manual had 290 hp.

Doug is a type of guy who likes to say "...AND..."

Thanks for the awesome video Doug! Love the NSX, now you have to find a 3rd gen Prelude with 4 wheel steering

The early 90's was a highlight of Japanese car industry.

timeless styling, such a great looking car.

The original nsx has always been one of my favorite cars

Great vid Doug. But you didnt mention the main fact that this car is so valuable. The Honda NSX heritage from Formula 1 (the central engine comes directly from this). Honda was 6 times in a row world constructors champions (2 with Williams and 4 with MacLaren team - 1986 to 1991). And Senna have a famous chapter driving this cars (wearing mochacins) in Suzuka. Cheers!

Can we just take a moment and just think how cool those popup headlights look !!!!!!!!!!!

Somone:what did you want as a background for the video Doug: skylines lots of skyline gtr

The "Half" button is for clearance in car parks and domestic garages (Japanese models only). In other markets the "Half" button became front fog lights and the "blanks" were used for heated seats or light adjustment.

I always drooled over the NSX. Still do. A timelessly beautiful car.

The fun of a sports car, the reliability of a Honda.

"Only" having a six cylinder never hurt the Porsche 911.

"0-60 MPH in a a high 5 seconds and it gets a 4 out of 10..." what would be considered a 9 out of 10? 0-60 in 2 milliseconds?

In 1990 when I first saw the NSX I was in love, and now when I see a pic/vid of it from time to time I still fall in love with it. Its just amazingly proportioned not only horizontally, but vertically too, from all angles, sides, front and rear! There are maybe two dozen cars as simply eloquently designed as the NSX in the passed 100 years! Buy an NSX if you can acquire one, and dont drive it keep it in protection wait 10-20 years, I'm not the Creator I dont know for certainty the future but it'll be a supe high collectors assest as more years pass especially extreme clean samples. Anyways greetings from Turkiye! I love this car! :) Oh and Doug thank you to you too, doing a good job! :)

Fun fact: Ayrton Senna helped they build this car. He was very critical about it's rigidity and the engineers had to change it.

i’m so broke i can’t even afford a bread crumb. i love this car is so beautiful. the styling is stunning.

Being so low to the ground and great looks , I can only imagine how crazy fun the nsx is on tight turns.

This once again proves that the 90s led in automobile innovation: The NSX, Supra, 300zx, Corvette, Camero, Trans Am, RX7, 3000gt, Stealth, Mustang etc... The summer of the 90's was a line up vintage vehicles and I was blessed to be apart of it with my 1994 300z.

Who else is distracted by the numerous Skylines in the background? No, just me? Alright...

So no one's gonna talk about the amount of GTRs in the background?😍

I remember going to a car meet and there was an nsx, but the owner actually let me sit in it... Best day of my life it felt so unreal yet so exciting, the nsx has been my dream car for soo long I can't remember it's just a masterpiece of engineering 🙌

I sold my 94 NSX (Brooklands Green) with 60k miles for $22k in 2010. Story of my life. It was a fantastic car, fast, good handling, comfortable and a good daily driver. Cheap to operate.

Door handles are hidden to not clutter the doors. Keyhole: hi there.

This car had Ayrton Senna himself as a consultant for development.

Here in Houston we have maybe 5 of these that I’ve seen. Over the years 🤗. I just have to salute Acura for this design. Timeless

Doug didn't even mention full aluminium monocoque and suspension, yes I do love NSXs ; ))

This car ages like fine wine 😊😊😊

Doug is the type of guy to wear 3 t-shirts to a wedding instead of his normal 2 because it’s fancier

Depending on your distance from the radio station transmitter, half extended would give you better reception. A similar feature in my '84 Accord LX.

Oh my God these Skylines in the background, I'm in love!

Me: "Okay, I'll see what kind of bids they have" Seconds later Me: "Nope"

Correction, the wheels are 15" front 16" rear, the 3.0 engine is 270 hp, the climate control has auto and manual controls. Great video.

It's crazy how cars we liked, and had as kids are now how we wanted the cars of our parents late teens and early 20s

heres why doug demuro is shooting up in value and heres why he is the most valuable youtuber,

Its shooting up in value because of this video.

Well now it’s going to go up even more in value because of this video

I came here because I saw this same model of NSX yesterday. It's my first time seeing this in person and rarely shows up on the road, I really appreciate this legendary car What a looker!

The reason for the half-antenna button is that a shorter antenna is better for FM radio reception, and a longer one better for AM and shortwave radio reception. People don't remember (or don't know that on these MP3 and streaming days), but in those days, I used to adjust the manual extending antenna on my Ford Maverick according to what kind of radio I was planning to listen to. One of the reasons the car drives so well is that Formula 1 champion Ayrton Senna, who at the time was driving for the McLaren-Honda Formula 1 team took part on the car development as a consultant.

12:10 the new nsx? ok This is one of my favorite cars ever! I fell in love with it in a game GTA SAN ANDREAS where it went by name "Infernus". Later I found it in other video games and I remember it was so unusual to see brand "Acura", I always wondered where are they. Turns out - not in Europe! 😆

I feel like I'm always the only person who thinks the NSX was one of the greatest looking cars of all time. **** the etype. This is amazing.

Just bought this on CarsAndBids amazing car! Thanks CarsAndBids!

you know you have done someting well done when an almost 30 year old car is still reliable and works as intended as when it came out from the factory, aaannnd it's price tag is getting up in value, aaaanndd Doug never stops praising the clutch+shifter smothness and precision

It doesn’t matter if you love an specific kind of car, whenever you see an NSX, you can’t help but stare. Timeless design IMO.

State of the art engineering, timeless design, spectacular reliability, and being a literal automotive icon of the 1990's! It's about time!

Absolutely stunning, one of the most beautiful sports car of all !

Doug Demuro going to Top Rank. My RU-vid subscriptions are coming full circle!

Who remembers Doug's review of the old nsx a few years ago

"I'm not sure I can really give you appropriate advice on a mass-production car," Senna told the team. "But I feel it's a little fragile." Ayrton Senna, F1 driver giving his opinion about the nsx prototype after testing it.

Dear Doug Demuro, in my NSX, near the handbrake, there are all four buttons! Front fog lamp, rear fog lamp, headlight wiper, headlight height. My 1991 NSX 3.0 manual transmission has 274 horsepower! He doesn't have 250!

Ah yes, the car we all driven in gta san andreas

I’d love it if you could do a review of the Nissan GTR R33 that was in the background

12:08 "Next up moving inside the new NSX" The car so beautiful that he mistaken it for the new one LOL

Hey Doug great video as always, I'm a die-hard fan of yours, one of the best personalities on RU-vid without a doubt. Got a suggestion for u how about reviewing a 1990-1993 Opel Lotus Omega, one of my favorite 90s sports cars ever. Not widely known because they were only sold in the UK and it was considered street illegal in its time but for its time it was a colossally fast car with a top speed of 176 mph and could Sprint up to 100 mph in 11 seconds( not very fast in todays standards but could leave cars like the Ferrari testarossa gasping back then. It featured a twin turbocharged twin cam engine linked to the same six speed gear box used in the Corvette ZR-1 at the time. Believe it or not, it was considered to be the worlds fastest four seater four door saloon car in it's day. Great car would love to see a review.

All of those r33s in the background 😍

This car will remind me just and forever Wolf" from Pulp Ficfion.

This is the official Japanese Ferrari

Doug has the ability to shoot any car up in value. He controls the market. Dealerships, salesmen, future builders all watch his videos

I dont know why but... When the pop ups headlight goes up its so satisfying

Honds when building the NSX: *Balanced, as all things should be*

As cool as the NSX is, I can't take my eyes off the R33s on the back, such a nice and underrated car

I had an original NSX years ago and it was amazing! I sold it for around $25,000 which was the going rate around that time. I always missed that car and decided to start looking for another one now that I was able to afford it. I ended up with an Audi R8 instead. While I do still love the original NSX for what it was, it does not hold a candle to the R8 in any respect. Nostalgia is only worth so much.

I own a 1995 VTEC Prelude and the 94-96 Prelude VTEC was the mini me to this car. Same things you say...feel of manual tranny and clutch , balance, etc......it is almost as fun. The 5th generation Prelude was a a different inferior car. Not many have driven a stock 94-96 Prelude VTEC so they do not know. If you ever get a chance drive one. Great review.

I would not mind to have that in my garage!!