Rank the most "valuable, rare or desirable" colors of NSX...without regard to...

[tof]

colors are rare BECAUSE they were not desirable (at the time of purchase, at least)

+1. This is especially true for a low production car like the NSX.

Red and black are the iconic colors that were featured in at least 90% of the pictures in Acura promotional material.
Imola seems to me to be a love-it-or-hate-it color, although it is certainly rare and distinctive.

My personal list would be:

Hidden Headlights:
White
Silverstone (or MAYBE Sebring Silver, which is lighter and less "metallic", at least on S2000's)

Fixed Headlights:
Spa Yellow Pearl
Monaco Blue Pearl

 

[Aaron94T]

My personal list would be:

Hidden Headlights:
White
Silverstone (or MAYBE Sebring Silver, which is lighter and less "metallic", at least on S2000's)

Fixed Headlights:
Spa Yellow Pearl
Monaco Blue Pearl

Monaco is the most purple of the blues and a hidden headlight 00-01 color. Long Beach Blue Pearl is 02+. Just as an FYI from an almost fanatical blue fan. :wink:

 

[tof]

Monaco is the most purple of the blues and a hidden headlight 00-01 color. Long Beach Blue Pearl is 02+. Just as an FYI from an almost fanatical blue fan. :wink:

My mistake. Thanks for the knowledge. About all I really know is BB and the silvers. Even the reds throw me as there seem to be so many of them.

I was going by the color Wiki. As I read it, Monte Carlo BP was the blue available in all markets from 97 to 99. Monaco BP was available in the US from 2000 on. If you're right they need to fix the Wiki.

http://www.nsxprime.com/wiki/Colors#Monaco_Blue_Pearl

 

[Lostbuckeye]

colors are rare BECAUSE they were not desirable (at the time of purchase, at least)

Most desirable to me would be Monte Carlo Blue. In 20 years if my car's paint hasn't held up, that's what I'll be painting it.

You are correct, when they were in production. And remember the sales of the NSX as a whole were not good back then because the economy was struggling, the car was just out of date and too expensive compared to its more up to date competition. The car was always under appreciated until this last few years. But now they appear to be very desired. When the few LBBP, Imola and Midnight Pearls are posted for sale they seem to disappear so fast that Shawn claims conspiracy. (I know he does that on most issues but, I'm trying to make a point here). In fact, most all of the 02+ cars are rare anyway for those same reasons and tend to sell quickly. The entire 4 year production run of the 02 to 05 NSX equals about three weeks of Corvette Z06 production.

 

[nsxnemo]

'02-'05 Imola Orange Pearl / Onyx
'02-'05 Grand Prix White / Onyx
'97-'99 Monte Carlo Blue Pearl / Onyx

 

[arista5]

'02-'05 Imola Orange Pearl / Onyx
'02-'05 Grand Prix White / Onyx
'02-05 Long Beach Blue Pearl / Onyx

I do agree with the above, but not the top comment of "But I disagree with the "they weren't desirable at the times of purchase" comment."

Since the 90s People were limited to what the dealerships "ordered" in my opinion. Dealers order what they historically sell the most of. And when it comes to new colors I believe they stray from that to not be stuck with them on their lot. I cant recall anything recent and once for the past when a typical production car was actually ordered for a customer and built and shipped to them.

Most dealers attempt a locate on what a customer wants and then the customer needs to take whats avail. never even being offered the option of ordering a car anymore.

 

[FF Drifter]

I do agree with the above, but not the top comment of "But I disagree with the "they weren't desirable at the times of purchase" comment."

Since the 90s People were limited to what the dealerships "ordered" in my opinion. Dealers order what they historically sell the most of. And when it comes to new colors I believe they stray from that to not be stuck with them on their lot. I cant recall anything recent and once for the past when a typical production car was actually ordered for a customer and built and shipped to them.

Most dealers attempt a locate on what a customer wants and then the customer needs to take whats avail. never even being offered the option of ordering a car anymore.

This, exactly. I think there is too much assuming going on in this thread when we somehow come to the conclusion that because red cars were sold the most they were the most popular, without regard to which colors were actually produced the most. I don't think we can easily get such data, but a closer indicator I think would be looking at stats for which color NSXs stay on the market the longest after being posted for sale.

 

[The King]

When I was trying to figure out what color NSX I wanted the most, there were several things to consider. To start with there are virtually none to be had within 1500 miles of here. I wanted a late model low mile one, and while I like the original design a lot, the fixed headlight version is what I really wanted. I resigned myself to the fact that I would probably have to get one in the US because of availability and price.

There really isn't any terrible colors out there, but I had a few that were not high on the list. Like for many of us now, Imola is an awesome color. It is however almost nonexistent. Since getting mine, white has really grown on me. There are very few of those around also, especially in the "frog eye" model. Blue is also a great color for the car. These are colors that stand out from a long way away. The same for red. Looks great on the car, you can see it coming from miles away. Black looks excellent, but for me, would be too time consuming to maintain.

So back to the colors that really stand out. Having a rare car in a vibrant color that is capable of getting you arrested coming out of second gear, seemed like a poor combination to me. When the S2000 came out, we brought in a supposedly sold red one and a Silverstone that I planned to keep myself forever. They were both in the showroom at one point for awhile, and I spent considerable time staring at them. The genius that put the deposit on the red one showed up, test drove it, came back with a speeding ticket, and then decided she didn't want it. At that point I had my choice of the silver or red. The red looked great, but so did the silver, and I knew my chances of keeping a license were better with the silver too. We had no trouble finding a home for the red one, even at 50K, which is what they sold for here.

I never regretted my decision on the Silverstone, so when my friend offered me his 03 Silverstone NSX with 9500 miles on it, I knew it was a no brainer. Instead of travelling thousands of miles, dealing with a complete stranger, and having to bring it across the border, I only had to drive two hours and deal with a long time friend. Plus have another of Honda's best, in my color of choice.

Of course as luck would have it, not long after getting my Silverstone, a supercharged 04 Imola appeared in Montreal for sale. It had been imported from the US, had a speedo conversion to kms and the steering wheel replaced. It wasn't cheap either. I kept going back to the for sale ad on the car. My wife told me to go for it, as she loves the Imola also. I wasn't prepared to take a pill on the one I just got and had little history on the Imola. It sold, was imported back into California, and had it's speedo changed once again. Oh well, I've only had one ticket in the S2000 in 15 years (many close calls) and one in the NSX (would have been stunting if not hard on the brakes before the detector went off). I'll stand by my color choice for all the above reasons.

 

[tof]

Silverstone is a great combination of handsome looks and easy maintenance. I also had a silverstone S2000 (weren't they all silverstone?) and it was so easy to keep looking perfect with routine washing and detailing. I think the NSX in silverstone is a stand-out, especially with a matching roof. The color is even more eye-catching and distinctive on the NSX than it is on the S2000.

 

[vivanshah]

Silverstone is a great combination of handsome looks and easy maintenance. I also had a silverstone S2000 (weren't they all silverstone?) and it was so easy to keep looking perfect with routine washing and detailing. I think the NSX in silverstone is a stand-out, especially with a matching roof. The color is even more eye-catching and distinctive on the NSX than it is on the S2000.

silverstone with bbs LMs is one of the best looking NSX combos i've ever seen...

 

[fastaussie]

if you were to go by the numbers mentioned so far, the rarest would be the Monaco Blue's with 44,
then the Imola's with 49,
and then the red Zanardi's with 50.

naturally I'm gonna say my favourite is the Imola orange, but I was always a red/tan bloke. my first NSX, a '96 red/tan took me 2 years to find. like Lostbuckeye my Imola sort of fell into my lap while I was having no luck locating a 2002+ red/tan. at first I wasn't sure if the orange was gonna be too much, especially the interior, as I'd never seen one in person. I was also looking at a silver/silver as a secondary choice after the red/tan.

one thing I will say about the Imola is it gets a lot more attention than the red. and it gets a lot different type attention. from car enthusiasts, but more so from non car enthusiasts. little old ladies enquire about the car now where they never would have before. the Imola really is an amazing colour, and in direct sunlight it becomes almost gold. and the 2002+ was always the ultimate goal, for me they look a lot more modern and up to date.

in the end it was meant to be as I bought both of my NSX's in the same town in Colorado, and the same mechanic checked them both out.

the white/tan's must extremely rare and highly sought after I would imagine...

 

[naaman]

White/Tan is my 1st choice... although, any interior that isn't black is generally okay with me. In fact, there is exactly 1 NSX that meets all the criteria for my "dream car." It is a 2001 white/tan coupe. It was for sale on Prime 10+ years ago out of New York, I believe.

Other than that, blue/tan or a silver car would be next on my list. I'd be willing to settle for silver/black, knowing that there were only 6 made with an ivory interior and none with a tan interior. I know the late models had silver available as an option, but I'm not sure I want a T. I'd have to drive one for a few hours to figure that out.

I generally do not prefer red (especially for an NSX), although, I think that the 02+ body style looks okay with red (again, a non-black interior is preferable). A red/black NSX is probably my last choice. I'd even rather have green than red. In fact, green out ranks midnight pearl, yellow, and black on my wish list. On the other hand, Teej's car looks stunning (it's black).

 

[Speedmaster]

After posting this I realized there were several other similar non-polls/threads. I posted this because a buddy is buying a GPW and having it delivered. He was curious how rare the color was (and how desirable) so he could build that into an offer. As I said, he now owns it and it is probably on a trailer headed his way right now.

Thanks for all who responded.

 

[91 X]

Blue and black.....or is it white and gold????

I can't tell the difference!!!!

:biggrin:


I prefer pearl white with black top, but that's just me:wink:

 

[EuroBoutique]

'02-'05 Imola Orange Pearl / Onyx
'02-'05 Grand Prix White / Onyx
'97-'99 Monte Carlo Blue Pearl / Onyx

+1, all very true combinations. I know Imola is the rarest in terms of numbers available since it was only offered from 02-05. I'm sure someone here can chime in with the actual sales numbers.

For GPW, it was offered in many years so the numbers are higher however if you were shopping for a 02-05 GPW NSX, it's definitely a unicorn:

A total of 24 cars...

2002:

Grand Prix White/Onyx Manual: 3
Grand Prix White/White Manual: 3
Grand Prix White/Camel Manual: 3
Grand Prix White/Onyx Auto: 0
Grand Prix White/White Auto: 1
Grand Prix White/Camel Auto: 0

2003:

Grand Prix White/Onyx Manual: 0
Grand Prix White/White Manual: 2
Grand Prix White/Camel Manual: 1
Grand Prix White/Onyx Auto: 0
Grand Prix White/White Auto: 0
Grand Prix White/Camel Auto: 0

2004:

Grand Prix White/Onyx Manual: 1 - Mine
Grand Prix White/White Manual: 1
Grand Prix White/Camel Manual: 1
Grand Prix White/Onyx Auto: 0
Grand Prix White/White Auto: 1
Grand Prix White/Camel Auto: 0

2005:

Grand Prix White/Onyx Manual: 4 - Sung has one in San Bruno, CA
Grand Prix White/White Manual: 2 - Hothonda has one in Seattle, now sold to another prime owner
Grand Prix White/Camel Manual: 1 - car is located in Hawaii, one owner: Kendall
Grand Prix White/Onyx Auto: 0
Grand Prix White/White Auto: 0
Grand Prix White/Camel Auto: 0