Initial thoughts from the public on gen-1 NSX

[91 X]

"The greatest sports car ever built"- Motor Trend


or something like that.....pretty much all you need to know.


the word I hear the most when talking to Joe Public about my car is "timeless"

 

[91 X]

here you go...found this from old autotrader article.

Winning Over the Press and Public
Upon its debut, the NSX garnered a plethora of awards, including Automobile magazine's Automobile of the Year and Popular Science's Best of What's New. It also made Road & Track's Ten Best Cars in the World list. In 1991, Motor Trend called the NSX "the best sports car ever built." The NSX also began winning on the race circuit, including championships three years running at the International Motor Sports Association GTP Lights series

 

[Yinzer]

here you go...found this from old autotrader article.

Winning Over the Press and Public
Upon its debut, the NSX garnered a plethora of awards, including Automobile magazine's Automobile of the Year and Popular Science's Best of What's New. It also made Road & Track's Ten Best Cars in the World list. In 1991, Motor Trend called the NSX "the best sports car ever built." The NSX also began winning on the race circuit, including championships three years running at the International Motor Sports Association GTP Lights series

Thanks! But I'm looking more for what Joe Public was saying, like in the letters to editor sections, and not the press or professional organizations.

 

[91 X]

Thanks! But I'm looking more for what Joe Public was saying, like in the letters to editor sections, and not the press or professional organizations.

Joe Public was too busy drooling over it to write letters to the editor about it back then.........:smile:


funny thing is is that most of the public still does 25 years later....I was at a car show last week and some young man came up to thank me for bringing "the best car here" surrounded by all the latest and greatest F-cars, Porsche, Lambos, etc....

 

[Yinzer]

Joe Public was too busy drooling over it to write letters to the editor about it back then.........:smile:


funny thing is is that most of the public still does 25 years later....I was at a car show last week and some young man came up to thank me for bringing "the best car here" surrounded by all the latest and greatest F-cars, Porsche, Lambos, etc....

 

[vf2ss]

Speaking of Joe Public and things being 25 years later...

True Story-

Yesterday I took the NSX to a meeting at a financial building. Upon arrival I see the coveted end parking space closest to the main entrance open as if it were just waiting for me so I pull in knowing I can park as far away as possible from the car next to me :wink: I proceed to the third floor where I'm greeted, get brought into an office, sit down, and the door gets shut behind me. Meeting starts. Then there's a wild, sporadic knocking on the door...a brief pause and again, wild knocking and then the door just swings wide open and this guy without greeting anyone or saying hi or anything just looks at me and says, "Is that your NSX?" I said, "Yes." He explains very quickly that when he pulled into the parking lot and saw it he couldn't believe his eyes and had to do a double-take, and that it was his dream car since high school, and that it is the best car ever, and so on, etc. I pull the keys out of my pocket with an open hand smiling and he just says, "No, man, no...don't even do that or get me started!" then he asks,"How many miles you got on it?" I tell him, and he just says, "Shut up! Nah...man, Shut up!" while shaking his head and then he just shuts the door without even saying good bye and disappears as quickly as he came in. Needless to say, that made my day

 

[Yinzer]

Speaking of Joe Public and things being 25 years later...

I think that's a pretty good indication of what Joe Public thought 25 years ago. Good "staying power."

Realize too - much of my inspiration for this thread was from reading some comments within threads criticizing the gen-2: comments that the gen-1 was also criticized a lot upon intro by the public for the same things many here criticize the gen-2 for, like power, appearance, too expensive for what you get, etc. I still think the public largely loved it.

 

[fastaussie]

Come on, folks! The NSX was seen as a game-changer and a segment buster! It was almost universally praised when it came out. It wasn't until much later, when most of the competition had been updated and it had not, that it started falling behind.

Here's the comparison test that helped start my love affair with the car: http://www.caranddriver.com/compari...otus-esprit-turbo-se-archived-comparison-test

If you can't use the link, here is how the article ended after declaring the NSX victorious over the ZR-1, 911, 348, and Espirit: "Honda revitalized the motorcycle market in the sixties and reshaped the small-car market in the seventies. Now it's going to teach the world how to build Learjets for the ground."

yep, that's how i remember it.

i was well below the age of having a driver's license but i got every magazine which featured the NSX inside. and it was universally praised in every way by the motoring press.

it was beating ZR-1's (with 400 horsepower) around the track, and smoking the Ferrari's at the time it came out. of course a few years later it all turned the other way around, as happens. but it was considered a big, big deal in 1991.

i dunno what the public thought about it, i didn't have a clue back then...

Understood. I've tried looking through a few "archive" sites and failed. But tests like the one in C&D reflected the general "wow" mood that I recall at the time. Some comments here seemed to be implying that people didn't think it was legit. That's not what I recall at all. But of course that could be the rose-colored glasses we wear when looking back!

no, you're correct. i still have some of the old magazines from back then, but unfortunately i am not at my place of residence for another few weeks...

I saved most of my old mags...but of course they are in a box in the attic..

which is also where mine are...

p.s. never heard of an RX-7 or Supra TT outrunning an NSX. in a straight line or around a track.

 

[Skylifter]

Well, apparently the 'public' doesn't always have the real tune on things...
I am a new (1 month) owner of a 92' (15.5k miles), and pull into a gas station for some good stuff...thought it would be nice to talk with the guy on the other side of the pump driving a 2014-15 911 C...
I say, "nice car...it's one that I have always admired (911). He says, "Nice car...it's a shame that Honda never really 'developed' it...what's it have...270 HP? I looked at him, and decided I wouldn't mention that in '92, 911s had about 250 hp and weighed considerably more than an NSX, and they weren't 1/4 milers either, but I smiled, and finished the fill-up and left.
Sometimes it's not worth it...

 

[Jinks]

^Typical 911 driver....

 

[VancouverBCnsx]

Comments from a rather old non-typical former 911 SC driver:
When I purchased my current 91 NSX 26 years ago, I had a 1978 911 SC Porsche picked up directly from the Stuttgart factory in Germany. Shortly after taking possession of the NSX, I vividly recall showing it to a number of the Porsche techs who occasionally worked on my 911. My recollection was that they examined it in quite a bit of detail and were drooling over the quality of the parts and the newly introduced technology. It made quite an impression. I was so infatuated with the look of the NSX that I placed my order (ie got in line) at a car show in mid-1990.
From a driving perspective, the NSX was considerably more refined and much easier to drive aggressively as compared to my Porsche at the time. However there was a 13 year differential in age.
I do recall some owners of exotic cars at the time considering the NSX as a Japanese wannabe. However I used to get a chuckle when individuals were unsure of the brand and inquired as to whether it was a Ferrari????? My usual response was "a poor man's Ferrari"!

 

[BAVARIA]

Well, apparently the 'public' doesn't always have the real tune on things...
I am a new (1 month) owner of a 92' (15.5k miles), and pull into a gas station for some good stuff...thought it would be nice to talk with the guy on the other side of the pump driving a 2014-15 911 C...
I say, "nice car...it's one that I have always admired (911). He says, "Nice car...it's a shame that Honda never really 'developed' it...what's it have...270 HP? I looked at him, and decided I wouldn't mention that in '92, 911s had about 250 hp and weighed considerably more than an NSX, and they weren't 1/4 milers either, but I smiled, and finished the fill-up and left.
Sometimes it's not worth it...

Had the /94 Formula Red NSX out for a quick jaunt tonight and got an "out the window" thumbs up from a fellow in a red 911 (looked like a series 996) and I gave him a wave back. You never know where the interest/compliments will come from. I find that the NSX seems to attract attention of a positive nature just about every time I drive it. Still looks amazing and fun to drive.

 

[Speedmaster]

Speaking of Joe Public and things being 25 years later...

True Story-

Yesterday I took the NSX to a meeting at a financial building. Upon arrival I see the coveted end parking space closest to the main entrance open as if it were just waiting for me so I pull in knowing I can park as far away as possible from the car next to me :wink: I proceed to the third floor where I'm greeted, get brought into an office, sit down, and the door gets shut behind me. Meeting starts. Then there's a wild, sporadic knocking on the door...a brief pause and again, wild knocking and then the door just swings wide open and this guy without greeting anyone or saying hi or anything just looks at me and says, "Is that your NSX?" I said, "Yes." He explains very quickly that when he pulled into the parking lot and saw it he couldn't believe his eyes and had to do a double-take, and that it was his dream car since high school, and that it is the best car ever, and so on, etc. I pull the keys out of my pocket with an open hand smiling and he just says, "No, man, no...don't even do that or get me started!" then he asks,"How many miles you got on it?" I tell him, and he just says, "Shut up! Nah...man, Shut up!" while shaking his head and then he just shuts the door without even saying good bye and disappears as quickly as he came in. Needless to say, that made my day

I have three guesses...
1) You were visiting your client
2) You were on an interview
3) You were pitching an m&a deal

How close/far was/am I?

 

[Speedmaster]

My experience back in the early '90s was that the car was already a supercar the minute it hit the showroom floor. People didn't view it as a daily-driver. Mind you, I was in the deep south of the United States and the people that could afford it either were business owners or corporate execs, the latter being few and far between, the former had many other options to show their wealth (like an Eddie Bauer Ford Bronco, etc.)

To me it was THE car to own when/if I ever made a few nickels. I recall thinking at the time that cars were getting more reliable and that if they could build a Honda that could run hundreds of thousands of miles then they could continue the evolution of all cars, including the NSX. This brought me to thinking that I would be happy with any generation/iteration of the car as I was pretty excited about what the future would bring. Still, the car was sexy and arguably better looking than anything I had seen thus far (yes, I had seen plenty of F,P, L, J and M cars up close.) Somehow back then I knew that I could see an NSX in my future.

Back to the public sentiment. All my friends were broke college students working on our Fiats, MGBs and Alfas. We upgraded to BMWs and Peugeots, etc. Still, we would do the obligatory stroll through every Ferrari or Maserati dealership on our road trip routes and compare notes. Heck, I can remember sitting in the grocery store with a stack of car magazines and just reading them. The manager never kicked us out. Just sat there and read and read and read. When done, we'd buy our groceries and then leave. And on the way home, we would stop in at a local BMW tuner to see what was hidden in the gated parking area. I can't tell you how many times we had to change cylinder heads on my X 1/9 and were buying junk 128s just for parts...and finding Alfas with triple carbs. Wish I knew what "parting out" could do for my budget back then.

My sense is that if you were in college and were not middle-class or well to do, you knew the NSX by what the magazine told you (me.) If you were already making money or had means to acquire one, you may have had a different exposure.

I am not sure I ever saw one in the "wild" until I was in my late 20s.

Hope this helps.

 

[vf2ss]

I have three guesses...
1) You were visiting your client
2) You were on an interview
3) You were pitching an m&a deal

How close/far was/am I?

...with your first guess!

 

[Dq10]

In 1991 I was 40, not really a big time car guy but I was fascinated with the new NSX.. I remember buying either a motor trend or car and driver to read there review..It was glowing but I clearly remember the reviewer posing the question: If I were given the choice of the NSX or a Porsche 911 which would I take..His answer..the Porsche.. his rational went something like, the Porsche was more substantial, solid it was after all a Porsche, tradition ect. and the NSX although great wasn't quite in the same league and I believe his other colleagues felt the same with one exception..I wasn't surprised but I knew back then they were wrong at least from my perspective and I think that's the perspective you're looking for...Not that I felt the 911 was lacking but there was something magical about the NSX..