The Acura NSX was a vehicle of firsts — first production car with titanium connecting rods, etc. And today, Nice Price or Crack Pipe brings you the opportunity to be the first on your block to own a convertible one!
The barbershop quartet-toting Ferrari Mondial overcame its innate ugly ducklingness, with a squeaker 51%/49% vote, resulting in a Nice Price swan. A number of you noted that for that Ferrari's price, you could buy an Acura NSX. How accurately (see what I did there?) the Japanese car compares to the Mondial is worth debate, but one place where the Ferrari holds sway is its folding roof- as wind in the hair, and glorious, unfiltered quad-cam symphonies, are hard to beat. That was until this came along.
Newport Convertible Engineering has chopped off more heads than Sweeney Todd. Back in the day, they engineered a convertible conversion for Acura's well-lauded, all-aluminum sports car, the NSX. The New Sportscar eXperimental, or NSX, was a tour de force of Honda's technological prowess. Its extruded aluminum monocoque and all aluminum double wishbone suspension strived for weight-savings so that every ounce of power from the 3.0-litre VTEC V6 could be utilized. Those 270 ponies were more Pintos than Clydesdales, but still pushed the NSX to levels of performance that equalled their target- the Ferrari 328. In addition to the first use of titanium connecting rods, the NSX was also the first Honda-designed production car officially sold in the U.S. with rear-wheel drive.
This 1991 example has had its roof cut off, a full four years before Honda chose to offer even the targa. NCE added strengthening plates to the floor rails and b-pillars, but the question of loss to structural rigidity would have to be answered from behind that wheel, as even if it's a professional job, the car wasn't intended to have so large a structural member removed.
The top is still in good shape, and mimics the slope of the coupe's glass backlight, although its back window is plastic, unbefitting an otherwise elegant conversion. The door handles remain in the b-pillar and the hard tonneau doesn't stick up too far. Gold BBS rims take the place of the factory alloys, but the car is otherwise stock in appearance and looks to be in decent shape both inside and out. That's good because the seller is taking a less-is-more approach and is asking a premium for the fact that the top is gone. The $45,900 price is more than a stock '91 NSX would typically command, even in pristine condition. But this one isn't stock, and you're paying for that uniqueness. The NSX upholds the Honda tradition for unflagging reliability, and as it's all aluminum, the tin worm will give it a pass. Both of those factors will make ownership less onerous than others of its ilk, so the price may be warranted.
May be. And that's where you come in. Take a look and check a box. What's the verdict on this NSX with unlimited headroom? Does that $45,900 price make you want to drop some cash while it drops its top? Or, does that make it NS-Xcessive?
You decide!
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