Honda NSX

Ayrton Senna took part in the NSX's development, testing prototypes and pushing for more structural rigidity and sharper cornering behavior, a real collaboration, not marketing legend, documented by Honda itself. The result was the first mass-production car with an all-aluminum monocoque body, an engineering leap that cut weight without sacrificing stiffness.

A mid-mounted VTEC V6, a precise manual gearbox, and a far more approachable driving character than contemporaries like the Ferrari 348, the NSX sold the idea of a supercar you could actually drive every day, and delivered on it. In the United States it was sold as the Acura NSX; everywhere else, the Honda NSX. Production ran with barely any structural changes until 2005.

The second generation (2016-2022) flipped the formula: a hybrid twin-turbo V6 with three electric motors, built in Ohio, USA, the first time an Acura NSX rolled off a factory line outside Japan. The racing version, the NSX GT3, still competes today in series like IMSA and Super GT.

• Ayrton Senna personally tested NSX prototypes and pushed Honda for more structural rigidity, the final car reflects that rework.
• The original NSX was the first mass-production car with an all-aluminum monocoque body.
• In the US and Canada the car is called the Acura NSX; everywhere else, the Honda NSX, same car, different names.
• The second-generation NSX was the first to be built outside Japan, at a factory in Ohio.