Hard times: Honda kills the NSX

Everyone remembers the original NSX, Honda's answer to the super-cars of the early 90's that turned out to be so good, that it continued to turn heads until 2005. The mid-engine, V6 powered NSX was a work of genius from Honda- truly it was ahead of its time. The NSX was less powerful and less expensive than its rivals, yet it was still able to pass Ferraris on the track with ease (maybe combining the cars is the solution.)

Over the past few years since the original NSX's demise, spy photographers began to see Honda hard at work on a new NSX. The new Honda was to be a bonafide monster, powered by an all new V10, producing somewhere around 560 HP. Many experts expect the car to bear a resemblance to the Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept of a few auto shows ago. I have personally been excited for this car since the first news came around a few years ago, but today, there is bad news for the future of this still-in-development super-car.

The recent hard times havn't just effected the automakers in Detroit, In fact- in is a sign of how prudent and intelligent the head honchos at Honda really are- Honda has been ahead of the curve in making their business more lean to help cope with the economic crisis. Just a few weeks ago, in an unprecedented announcement, Honda pulled out of Formula 1, and then out of the AMA motorbike racing series. Now another cost cutting measure (reportedly the first news coming from the CEO himself, Takeo Fukui) is on the table: Honda has now officially confirmed that the NSX is dead. It's a sad day for Honda lovers like myself, we've lost a brother, a brother who never got to see the light of day.

Autoblog, an auto enthusiast site, is quick to point out that just because development on the almost-ready-for-production NSX has been halted, that doesnt mean the project cant be picked up when the hard times pass. I am acually fairly confident that, when the time is right, the NSX will return to the production track, but for now, the NSX's halted development serves as a chilling reminder that the times are a' changin.