Acura started to lose its way back when they decided to lose their model names. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Legend hails from the before-time, but will its price mean it’s quite the find?
Which do you prefer—to get the bad news before the good news, or visa-versa? Whatever your disposition, there’s no getting around the fact that regardless of the order, there’s still always bad news.
That was a conundrum avoided by the seller of yesterday’s 1999 BMW M3 convertible, as he deemed it satisfactory to present the car without providing its mileage. Would that eventual reveal prove a demerit? We’ll never know. We do know that, sans mileage, the car’s $4,500 price earned the M3 and its seller a laudable 66 percent Nice Price win. Good news indeed!
Who here can name and order of lineup position all of Acura’s current models? I’ll bet that even the cheap-suited salespeople at Acura’s dealers can’t do it without a cheat sheet. TL, MDX, Frankie says RLX… it’s all a bit of an incoherent alphabet soup over there at Honda’s Buick.
Of course we all know the NSX, and can probably spout stats on both the venerated first-gen model and its long in development successor. The same can’t be said for the brand’s other current offerings and that’s likely because today they don’t make anything with as cool and aspirational a name as Legend. Say it with me—Legend.
Now, in Movieland, Legend was a 1985 Ridley Scott fantasy in which manic pixie forest-friend Tom Cruise had to defeat Tim Curry’s horny beast in order to save a princess and some unicorns. Trust me, the Acura Legend was far better. As example, today we have a 1994 Acura Legend sedan, and it looks pretty sweet.
Extant the NSX, early Acuras don’t seem to get their owners’ love, and you will find most of those advertised for sale to be in pretty sorry states. That’s not the case with this Gold over biscuit four door, however. This one has just 78,000 on the clock and looks to have been babied for each and every one of those miles. The car is offered up in Tampa which makes its seemingly amazing condition a rare positive that can be ascribed to “Florida Man.”
This Legend looks to be a base car as it lacks the automatic climate control of the upper-level models. It does sport leather seats and with the exception of the left-side back seat those look to be in great shape. There is some sort of stain on the left-side squab, but throw a gym bag back there and you’ll never even remember it’s there.
The rest of the interior is in excellent shape and stands as an eminent reminder of just how well Honda once did interiors.
The exterior is just as sweet, with shiny paint and un-scuffed bumpers. The 2nd-generation Legend’s styling is as dignified in its presentation as it is effective in masking the FWD chassis underneath. That’s made possible by the drivetrain’s longitudinal layout, making this one of the rare Honda’s to employ that design.
The engine here is a 3.2-litre V6 with a single overhead cam per bank making 200 horsepower. Upscale models earned 30 more ponies, but remember, back in 1994 even 200 was a lot. The engine is aluminum with cast iron cylinder liners and belt-driven cams.
Just aft sits Acura’s electronically-controlled four-speed automatic which—like the Michael Jackson Sade song of the same name—was a smooth operator.
The seller says that everything on the car is in working order including the A/C. The title is clear and the car comes with maintenance records going back to 1994. The only thing that seems wrong with it is a missing scuff plate on the boot lip, but that’s a quibble.
What may not be a quibble is the car’s $4,500 price. And yes, that’s three in a row. There’s also the question of whether or not anyone would ever really covet owning a ’94 Acura that wasn’t an NSX or Integra GS-R.
You’ll need to decide that now—at least as it applies to this sweet Legend. Does it seem worth that $4,500 asking? Or, does that price tag make this Acura a legendary rip off?
You decide!
Tampa, FL Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to EdHelmsBakery for the hookup!
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