I agree with all your comments, the only misunderstanding was that I never expected to spend $30k and get $30k back, realistically if you spend 30k on desirable mods (turbo, CTSC, some widebodys & NSX-R themed stuff) you might get back 10k-15K, if someone spends 30k on generally undesirable mods (lambo doors, big stereos, strange paint jobs and interiors and one off body kits) the return is negative to the original value. I understand there's a cost to getting what I want that I cant have.... Playing with cars is usually a bad financial decision (unless someone ownes a restoration shop), But I do try to make the best of it as often as possible as I do not want to spend 100k in mods to buy every OEM NSX-R tidbit just to avoid getting flamed by a purist and be left with a car worth only 25k more than oem.... But spending another 30-50k to get back 10-20k would be a victory and well worth the experience. I don't have any plans of selling anytime soon anyway.
My question is theoretical.... lets fast forward into the future 15-20 years down the line a real NSX-R might be 250k..... a pristine 20k mile collectors NSX might be $150k...... a more regular driven 100k+ miles NSX might be $100k...... will a decent NSX-R themed build looking & performing the part with 40k-50K of tasteful upgrades be $110-120K or will it be $80K (which I doubt)?
Your questions are valid and I don't know what the future holds on values for our cars.
However if we can observe what's occurred with values in, say air cooled Porsche's, I think we can agree that the unmodified examples tend to gather the highest resale prices.
When it comes to modifications, I think we need to be careful in thinking our particular modification is worth more than the next one just because we like ours but don't like another's.
You see your modifications as more tasteful and desirable as they're something you would like to do. (just as the Lambo door/body kit owner did with theirs)
However neither of us know whether future owners would see them as quite different modifications with different values, or lump them together as highly modified NSX's.
The Type-R NSX has an aura and I think we both see it as the most desirable of the NSX's.
They're expensive now and likely to become more expensive in future, however installing NSX-R parts doesn't mean the aura is transferred to a regular NSX.
The appearance can be achieved with aftermarket NSX-R parts and there are hundreds if not thousands of NSX's on the road today sporting various degrees of the NSX-R look.
For example do you think two identical NSX-R replicas, one with OEM parts and one with aftermarket parts would have a resale value reflecting the difference in parts cost?
I don't know the answer to that but I'd take a guess that the replicas would appeal to a younger demographic that want the "look" and performance might be secondary in their buying decision.
If that's so, then I'd question whether they might have the wherewithal or desire to pay more for essentially the same "look"
Your road to a lighter NSX with more power is one I think Honda would have liked to follow had they not fallen into their "stagnant" period where innovation etc. seemed to stop.
Given that our chassis, despite it's age, remains competitive is an attestation to the excellence Honda designed and built into our cars.
Reducing weight and adding power to achieve a competitive power to weight ratio with some of today's competitors is a worthy path, and one which you are well on the way.
I've followed your J swap thread with interest and it may be a path to less weight/more power.
But regarding value I'd suggest it's a negative asset despite the possible performance improvement.
It's a modification taking an NSX further from it's roots and likely reducing it's appeal to larger numbers of potential buyers at resale time.
