Honda NSX

Radical supercar is as easy to live with as a Civic

- Matt Robinson

SUPERCAR buyers have never had it as easy as they have these days. Modern entries in the genre tend to be reliable, easy to see out of, and in some cases they even ride eerily well.

It wasn’t always like this. Just take the Lamborghini Countach for example. It’s difficult to get in and out of, rear visibility is pretty much non-existent, and whether you’re pootling around or driving hard, it’s a bit of a handful. Entry-level supercars weren’t much better, but one manufacturer Honda, of all of them changed things with its very own mid-engined wonder.

The project can be traced back to the early eighties. From the outset, Honda’s creation was to be midengined, which back then was completely new territory for the firm. A test mule based on a hacked-up Honda City laid the groundwork, before the first proper prototypes were put together in the middle of the decade.