Leno says "Honda couldn't do it with the NSX..."

[Casper91]

Dang (Dan) you beat me to it with this reply. I couldn't agree more.
Let's not get offended by 2 sentences in an entire interview.
I think Jay is correct - Honda hasn't answered back. But I would count Honda out.
They are very good at keeping secrets. I believe we will see something cool.

Ford has an incredible history - and isn't going out of business anytime soon.
There is a huge retro market out there, and ford is going after it - good for them. It's all about the $$$$$.
Personally, I'm not a fan of the GT40 or the mustang, but then again I don't care for any of the muscle cars of the 50's/60's/70's.

pdt287 - sorry, I don't agree. They will sell a lot of these. People say the same thing about Honda - 90K for a Honda? I know the badge says Acura - but it's a Honda.

 

[swbatte]

Well it's easy for a 'Ford owner' to piss off a NSX owner by saying his car is better than ours. Facts are Facts the GT40 was an amazing car it kicked Ferrari's but. The NSX was an amazing car when it did the same thing in the 90's.

We all want our cars to be worth more than we paid for them and to have this nebulous heritage and pedigree. I hope that in 30 years when Honda builds an NSX for us again that it kicks Ferrari's and Ford's but in 2030. It would be nostalgic and people would hearken back to 1991 when an amazing car from Japan owned the roads and now the new NSX does it again.

Tell me you guys wouldn't buy one.

I just hope we don't have to wait 30 years like GT40 owners did.

 

[Stunner]

You should get a kick out of this. Being a service writer at a Ford dealership I received an email that all new Ford GTs have been issued two recalls. First the steering column is known to detach during hard driving and the other being bursting fuel lines.... Sounds like fun :biggrin:

 

[CDX_NSX]

Maybe I over-analysed his remarks, but this is why I got what I got from what he said (it was also apparent that he was abit around the map on it, but I understand that might not have been well thought out.)

Honda couldn't do it with the NSX, which to everybody was the equal of a Ferrari--it was lighter, faster and it would handle better. But people in 1991 were saying, "I don't want to pay $80,000 for a Honda." Even the people at Toyota knew the Toyota name had a certain badge limitation, so they wisely called their upmarket car the Lexus, and the Nissan folks called theirs Infiniti. This is where I I think his point jumped maps But Ford didn't become Fjord or some other goofy name...

Either way, I think that the GT is a great looking car, and those who are buying it now are defintiely buying the heritage that it brings with it, but I still can't get my mind around the fact that it's built by the same people who built the Taurus and Tempo (among others) which had pieces of trim start falling off within weeks.

Not a Ford hater, just a Ford quality hater.

 

[Vytas]

I have a different view of the Ford GT. I simply don't care for it.

Let's see (from what I've read in AutoWeek so far):

- Bad intake manifold design. A redesign will be required and each car refitted with a new one.
- Failing (cracking) suspension components with letters going out to all owners to NOT DRIVE the car.
- Crankshaft seals already leaking.

All this from a $150K car? No thanks. I don't care about this car one bit. It doesn't do anything for me. It's a Ford and all the reliability and quality problems plague the car just like any other Ford. I'll take two new '05 NSXs over this POS in a heartbeat.

 

[kgb_agent]

Here's a point that no one has brought up so far. Leno seems to really dog the Japanese manufacturers for renaming their lineups (Lexus, Infiniti etc.) Well, IMO Ford has made two monumental screwups with regard to names:

(1) Ford cherished its racing history with the GT40 so much that it sold the GT40 name to another company!! They can't even call the car by its real name legally.

(2) So what do the boardroom geniuses decide to name the car? None other than "GT" - the ubiquitous nickname of Ford's other sportscar, the Mustang GT. Creative.

 

[wagyshag]

I'll take two new '05 NSXs over this POS in a heartbeat.

Could not agree more!! :biggrin:

 

[vtecNSX1]

To me it seems like for is just lazy. Instead of making a new bodystyle they pretty much just used the old one. Also Ill never drive a ford.

 

[H-carWizKid]

I think the GT is a bad ass ride, I was glad to see Ford build it. They sure are neat to look at, and I am a fan of American manufacturing making efforts to inspire.

W/ regards to the NSX... Jay Leno is like a small child who wondered into the middle of a conversation... No frame of reference whatsoever.
Most anyone who lays disdain on our doorstep over our choice of sportscar seems to fall into this catagory, and that is O.K. by me. It keeps our enthusiast base exclusive. F- what you heard, and remember what you drive.

I wonder how great the Ford GT club is? Do you think they help each other out when their cars are vandalized? (NetViper)
I wonder how many bikes they bought for kids last year?
After their cars have been in existance for 14 years, I wonder if fathers and sons will caravan with other owners across country to meet each other at a big event every year.

The NSX experience isn't just about cars, the cars are great, but the community makes it better. The community that was inspired by the cars...
I think maybe Mr. Leno missed something significant.

It was never about the price tag.

Philip

 

[pach]

To me it seems like for is just lazy. Instead of making a new bodystyle they pretty much just used the old one. Also Ill never drive a ford.

Are you talking about the Ford or the NSX ? :biggrin:

 

[timothyaw]

...but his point was that all three use a different name for their "high-end" line of cars, unlike Ford that didn't feel the need to change its name for a different market. Ummm doesn't FORD have the LINCOLN/MERCURY as their Prestige brand?

:tongue:

 

[rbirling]

That made me laugh: Think of how many people would buy a Lincoln GT! :biggrin:

 

[dang]

Ummm doesn't FORD have the LINCOLN/MERCURY as their Prestige brand?

Yes and no. Ford, Lincoln and Mercury have always been related in the marketing world. The don't make an attempt to hide the fact that they're from the same company. An attempt to do that would be ridiculous anyway since most of the cars just have different bumpers and headlights on them. I believe they're also sold at the same dealerships in some cases, meaning you might find Lincoln and Mercury vehicles at the same location. Not sure though.

I do know that when Acura came onto the scene way back when, the dealerships had to be a minimum distance away from Honda dealerships. They tried to keep their roots as seperated as possible. This makes sense since the perception was that Honda built little fuel efficient vehicles. How would they know how to build a luxury car?

I'm not saying either way is good or bad, they're all just doing what they think is best for them.

Dan

 

[NSX&RX7]

Awhile ago, someone on Prime did a survey of the average age of NSX owners and someone else did a statistical study of the most commonly owned year (1991 I believe) for NSXs.

Jay Leno is one very rich guy. He has a huge garage and fills it with very expensive exotics and collectibles.

I'm sure the majority of NSX owners, like myself, spent a tiddy sum to own an NSX despite their economic status. This is due, in large part, to the NSX's affordability, exclusivity. techical mastery, and performance. The NSX is a technical work of art-- I've come to realize that now that I own my second.

If I were a multi-millionaire, like Jay Leno, I'd have a few other cars hanging around-- not sure what they'd be. But I'm just a retired guy who has loved cars since I was a kid and couldn't care one bit what Jay Leno thinks.

Larry T

 

[dang]

... But I'm just a retired guy who has loved cars since I was a kid and couldn't care one bit what Jay Leno thinks.

Larry T

Fortunately, his views are similar to a LOT of Californians when it comes to old cars. I live in CA and have old cars, and he's on "our" side when it comes to smog laws and how the hobby car industry is treated. Its nice having someone with that kind of notoriety with the same interests.

Dan

 

[CokerRat]

People are in love with the Ford GT's body and its enormous price tag. As far as performance goes, c'mon, any manufacturer can stuff an enormous or blown engine under the hood and put big fat sticky tires on it - Dodge has been doing it for a over a decade and yet the Viper is not compared to Ferraris.

The Ford GT is not the engineering marvel that many other exotics are. In fact that's the lesson here... good looks + huge engine + huge price tag = instant superexotic. People don't care about elegant engineering or precision. The only way it could be more popular is if the price was $300K instead of $150K.

 

[ajnsx]

Here's a point that no one has brought up so far. Leno seems to really dog the Japanese manufacturers for renaming their lineups (Lexus, Infiniti etc.)

The Japanese manufacturers are trying to sell to a market thats more interested in brand posuring than the cars themselves maybe?

A lot of these new cars--even supercars like the Ferrari Enzo--don't emotionally move you the way a Ford GT's shape does.

hehe.....right........

Love the gt
Love the enzo
Love the nsx
Love cars in general. :smile:

 

[AU_NSX]

BY JAY LENO

Honda couldn't do it with the NSX, which to everybody was the equal of a Ferrari--it was lighter, faster and it would handle better. But people in 1991 were saying, "I don't want to pay $80,000 for a Honda." Even the people at Toyota knew the Toyota name had a certain badge limitation, so they wisely called their upmarket car the Lexus, and the Nissan folks called theirs Infiniti.

Didn't Honda do the same thing in North America with ACURA?

However, in motor racing they race under the Honda brand not Acura in North America.

In Japan, Honda have a reputation for being the more hip and sporty brand name with most younger buyers choosing Honda and older buyers choosing Toyota.

So, if Honda has a good reputation in Japan and on the racetrack...

Was it a good idea to re-badge a Honda as an Acura? (This is a question as I am an engineer and not in marketing) I started buying Honda because of their domination of F1 back in the 80's. As for Acura, I needed ask no more questions after I found out it was a HONDA!

For me, the brand HONDA is the selling point as I know the engineering will be at the same level or better as the very best the Germans have to offer.

 

[drew]

Despite all the nay-saying I think the GT is a non-snooty supercar. It IS just a Ford and that is the beauty of it. The GT40 is just a beautiful car and you can drive it around without putting people on the defensive.

It has all the performance and looks of an F360,
WITHOUT: $1200 oil changes
WITHOUT: being a snob
WITHOUT: fit and finish
SADLY WITHOUT: an F1 transmission

WITH: Performance and Styling
WITH: Available parts...maybe cheaper too.

However the GT has the same price tag as a 360 (even more with dealer premium). You can service the car yourself without getting blackballed by the dealerships.

Ford is a pretty screwed up company and if it wasn't for the Mustang, they'd probably be out of business. They consider low production cars to be a "failure"....like the GT40, small T-birds and A/C Cobra.

Whereas Ford management is looking for the next major "hit" like the Pinto, Taurus, Mustang II or Granada. Cars that have a very short life, non-descript and, yet somehow, sell hundreds of thousands of units a year. (Also proves that most people have no taste at all...baaaa).

Ford has killed all their parts for their 65/66 Mustangs and sold off all the molds recently. They do not care about heritage...they are in the business of trying to sell a lot of cruddy cars. The 65/66 Mustang was a failure in the sense that there are many many tens of thousands of them running around like new: each depriving Ford of a new car sale. They charge a fee to stamp FoMoCo on the aftermarket reissued parts, but do not specify OEM quality.

Hopefully the new Bill Ford is trying to change that. He pushed the GT through and it is a good car. He is trying to follow it up with the new Cobra in 2007, which is also nice.

There is room in my garage for one....just not gonna pay more than MSRP for it...damn thing is over priced as it is. And I am also with the guy who believes that Ford could have easily charged $300K each. This seems to be the first US car that can really compete with a P- or an F- car. (The S7 is just not really in the same price range).

The GT40 is just a beautiful car though.

Drew

 

[ZR-1 NSX]

I'm always amazed how "car people" have such a bad case of my car is better than your car. Jay Leno is a true automobile enthusiast who has one of the best collection of special interest automobiles. Everything from Dusenbergs to Street Rods. He probably has more knowledge of collectable cars than most of us here on Prime. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I truly believe that Jays comments about Honda and the NSX are right on target. I don't think he is bad mouthing Honda in any way, he just is pointing out that Honda missed the boat by not capitalizing on the great reputation the NSX had when it hit the market. They did not try to make major improvements in technology over the life span of the NSX. I love my NSX as much as any car I have had to this point, but it simply is very underpowered by todays standard. Had Honda continued development of the NSX and given a 450HP or more power plant, It would be in the hunt with all the other current marks today. Now, not to many people are that impressed with the ability of the NSX because the rest of the world has equalled its capability.

Don't be so quick to judge Jay's comments. We're all entitled to our opinions. If Jay had his own "Prime", I'm sure his comments about NSX people whining about something he said would be just as rediculous as this thread. I'd be willing to bet that Jay knows a lot about the NSX and has a fair amount of respect for its place in history. His comments are probably misunderstood.

The Ford GT had a mighty fine place in history back in the 60's and more than likely to be repeated to some degree in the near future.

 

[Autophile]

ZR-1 NSX, I agree with your post, thanks for wording it so well.

...because the rest of the world has equalled [the NSX's] capability.

But regarding the comment that the rest of the world has equalled the NSX's capability, I believe the jury is still out on that. For example, a car that equals the NSX stats on paper may suffer from poor build quality, which may not come to light until many years from now. The NSX has proven itself to be a very solid, reliable performer. That is no small feat when talking about exotic, purpose-built cars.

 

[CDX_NSX]

It's interesting to see how many different ways a single paragraph can be read.

 

[AU_NSX]

I love my NSX as much as any car I have had to this point, but it simply is very underpowered by todays standard. Had Honda continued development of the NSX and given a 450HP or more power plant, It would be in the hunt with all the other current marks today.

I am amazed by this comment.

450HP or more power plant, It would be in the hunt with all the other current marks today....

What are you trying to compare the NSX with?

The NSX is lighter than both the Ferrari 360 and Porsche GT3 that have 400 and 381HP respectively. To be competitive against these current marques the NSX would only need 350HP to be equal and at 375HP the NSX would be superior! These HP figures can be achieved relatively easily with the current 3.2V6 engine! So I disagree that the NSX is "very underpowered by todays standard" Do you think the Lotus Exige is underpowered with its 190HP?

Now, not to many people are that impressed with the ability of the NSX because the rest of the world has equalled its capability.

I totally disagree with this comment!

The NSX's chassis and weight distribution is still superior to Porsches latest 997...
The NSX's engineering and build quality is still far superior to Ferrari's 360

I think too much emphasis is placed on HP and No. of cylinders and cubic inches etc... Whilst totally ignoring the overall design of the car including weight and chassis.

 

[Mr.Wolf]

Ignore him and he will go away.

 

[ChopsJazz]

Just one more thought- GT-specific this time. What is with the decapitating doors? Was that a design cue that really needed to be brought back to life?

The door tops were extended into the roof to facilitate easy entry into the car (over the sills) for those running Le Mans starts of the 60's. Big drivers like Dan Gurney would never have been able to get into the car (40 inches high) quickly with standard doors.