NSX and E36 M3. And McLaren F1, though I only sat in one for a few minutes so I couldn't appreciate everything (classmate's father had one).
I would love to hear more about the experience of getting into it and then sitting in it. As far as getting into the seat: was it rather cumbersome? Did you come in from the left side, and did it require any awkward reaches or balancing? If you can remember as well as look past any excitement of the moment, are you able to look back and think "I'd really not want to do that more than 1x a day..." or was it that easy?
Getting in from the left side doesn't look like it'd be as casual an affair as the NSX, which only requires good knees and the smarts to know about not rubbing the bolster. But if sliding into & out of the NSX wasn't the painless affair it is, like if the NSX had a huge sill to slide over like some lambo's and/or if getting in required coming in from the passenger side or say through the window, I can't help but think I'd not consider it my favorite cockpit feel.
Now as for sitting in it, how did that feel, and do you recall noticing anything in particular similar/different/same or worse/better than our NSX? I'm always interested in hearing others' impressions about what it feels like to sit in and/or drive a car, and how comfy or claustrophobic you feel. There are some where you instantly feel at home and just crave to go for a spin, while there are others that honestly make me kind of shocked like this was allowed to be put out when there are so many examples of what a good cockpit feel should be, even with today's rigid safety standards and awful high beltlines and claustrophobic-close dashboards. First time I sat in a Ford GT (it was a beat up test mule) I recall a big bubble burst, as it felt so claustrophobic and tank-like. I'd love a 2nd chance with a finished product. Similar for most lambo's I've sat in. Sitting in a C5 makes me feel like I'm in a 5,000 pound car....sitting in most any Audi TT feels like "home," as most Miatas I've sat in. Porsche Caymans feel 85-90% as good as sitting in an NSX to me, even with my Honda/NSX bias put aside. My 2002 Honda Accord and 2006 BMW ZHP 3-series felt pretty near-perfect for what they were too. Driving my friend's new Toyota Camry felt awful, and driving my other friend's 90's Firebird/TransAM was something I'd rather not do ever again - similar to the C5 but with even worse low-raked windshield and a dashboard surface that went on forever, I had no idea where the hood or front of the car was. Piloting my '93 Probe GT and '91 300ZX were 90-95% of what the NSX feels like, all power/handling considerations aside.
Ok! Here I was hoping it was somebody you kept in touch with from school, and his dad was Warren Buffet.Keep in mind I was just a dumb high school kid who didn't know much about the car except it was rare and really expensive.
This is a very interesting thread to me because I've always really valued the feel of a car's seats, controls, visibility, IP, etc. much more than blindly looking for who had the fastest 0-60 times, and I've always rated the NSX as having one of the best cockpits. In fact really I've had a hard time warming up to any current offerings other than BMW E46's, Caymans, and R8's because I don't much care for modern design's preferences in cockpit design with some way overly thought-out interiors/IP's as well as claustrophobicly high cowl heights, thick A-pillars, and gunslit windows. In the 90's as a new Ford engineer, the NSX and 300ZX were my two favorite cars but even used ones were still way outside of my budget so I settled on a 1993 Probe GT and was so surprised how similar the NSX, 300ZX, and Probe GT's cockpits felt. The Probe GT and NSX both had that prominent "ring" design feature where the dashboard meets the windshield,and the 300ZX & NSX both shared the control pods idea within a finger reach of the steering wheel.
Anyway, those are my 3 favorites. I've already owned and sold two. One more to go (and keep this time)!!
Probe GT:
300ZX:
I do not like interiors that have a separation between the center console and the dash like the 458/488 and so many others.