Teenager's response to my NSX

[ftuhy]

After Kid's Day at Watkin's Glen this past week (attended by a good number of NSXCA members), my wife and I went on to visit Niagara Falls. In the Niagara Falls parking lot, I saw a teenager standing next to my NSX. He loudly declared in disbelief - "this is an Acura??" His father asked him what he thought it was, and he said "a Ferrari".

Say what you want about an uneducated teenager and a remote area in upper NY state, but in my opinion this gets to the heart of why Acura discontinued the NSX. They simply never marketed it properly to let the world know what it is/was. Sure, enthusiasts know about it. But even people who don't own a car know what a Ferrari is. Most "ordinary" people never even heard of an NSX.

At the Acura-sponsored NSX Corral at the 2007 American LeMans series in Lime Rock, race fans were drooling over the NSXs and ignoring the adjacent Porsche Corral. Yet Acura didn't use that to their advantage.

And soon Honda will be dropping the S2000. I don't understand how Honda/Acura can make great cars such as the NSX and the S2000, successfully race in ALMS, Formula 1 and Indy, and yet not market that to their full advantage to get their due recognition.

What am I missing?

(I've owned my NSX for nearly 10 years, and it still feels great when someone sees it and declares - "Wow, what is that? Its gorgeous." But again, that means Acura has done a poor marketing job.)

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

Frank,

Can't comment on honda's marketing but I sure can say that you make the best pickles I've ever had on a sandwich, haha

Stephen

 

[damthatbeaver]

The NSX is the best kept consumer secret of all time...I love it when people cannot figure out what type of exotic is behind them...lol...the other day a girl actually stood up in her buddies Convertible Viper to see what type of car was lurking behind them...very phat!

Dam

 

[davidf]

The look on their face is priceless when I tell them it's 18 years old.

 

[jgeorge]

I have seen more heads spin looking at my NSX than Linda Blair did in the movie EXORCIST.

 

[garyb]

Yep, its great to drive around a car like an NSX and people still cant make out what kind of exotic it is.
Not your everyday Porsche or BMW you see on the road.

 

[R13]

And soon Honda will be dropping the S2000. I don't understand how Honda/Acura can make great cars such as the NSX and the S2000, successfully race in ALMS, Formula 1 and Indy, and yet not market that to their full advantage to get their due recognition.

What stupefies me is that it is almost as if the Japenese manufacturers work in cycles. Honda has had the NSX/S2K/ITR for quite a while now, whereas Toyota has not had an exciting car in their lineup since '98. Now, with the "toybaru" RWD entry-level car as well as a new Supra nearly done testing and the Lexus LF-A being raced....Where is Honda? Discontinuing the S2K, cancelling their supercar development, and pulling out of F1.

It's almost as if they just said, "ok, it's our turn to be boring for a while...we should build a hybrid."

But yeah, more on topic. I had a neighbor stop by while I was working on my NSX and his words were something to the effect of, "I have no idea what that is, but I love it. I've seen them on TV from time-to-time, and in magazines...etc.". It doesn't really bother me that I don't get instant "credit" for owning it, because it also spares me the default perception people have for Ferrari/Porsche/etc. owners. I at least get benefit of the doubt

 

[VegasSpeed]

I think this may be it for Honda. They don't seem to care about going fast. They are all about hybrids and gas mileage for cars now.

 

[Kyras]

I drove my NSX to the Colorado Springs area last week, from Orange County in Southern California. Every time I stopped, for gas or at a view point, I got questions, like, "What is it?" or "I love your car!" In Richfield, Utah, three teenage employees in a Burger King were lined up inside, looking out the window looking at it. The cashier in the gas station told me he thought it was a Ferrari but after going outside and looking all around it, he figured it out. I think my license plate helps me get fewer questions, though.

I took these three photos in Colorado on the 103 road near Echo Lake. Poor baby got very dirty and wet on the way to Colorado.

 

[alum04org]

Kyras I am liking those photos! I'm a bit partial to LBBP myself....
So, off topic a bit, but I am envious that you not only got to drive I-70 through Utah and across the Rockies in Colorado in your NSX, but you got to do it both ways! I flew out to Las Vegas in Feb, picked up a 2008 Volvo C70 for a friend, and drove it back to Michigan. Man, every gorgeous mile through UT and CO I wished I was driving my NSX :biggrin: :biggrin:

 

[Kyras]

Kyras I am liking those photos! I'm a bit partial to LBBP myself....
So, off topic a bit, but I am envious that you not only got to drive I-70 through Utah and across the Rockies in Colorado in your NSX, but you got to do it both ways! I flew out to Las Vegas in Feb, picked up a 2008 Volvo C70 for a friend, and drove it back to Michigan. Man, every gorgeous mile through UT and CO I wished I was driving my NSX :biggrin: :biggrin:

^Yeah, I know what you mean. I love Colorado roads in the S2000 or NSX. Sorry to go off topic ftuhy, and I'll delete this if you would like me to, but I want to share a couple photos of a trip I took last October with my honey. We both drove our S2000s for a ten-day vacation to Colorado. Awesome fun and gorgeous scenery! And if you think I-70 is good, you really would love 550 from Durango to Ouray!

^This was on highway 133 in Colorado. Wow!

^This is the 550 just north of Durango. We met up with another S2000 friend, who has homes in Texas and Durango.

 

[Cozmo]

. The cashier in the gas station told me he thought it was a Ferrari but after going outside and looking all around it, he figured it out.

I was at the tire shop shortly after I got my car and there was a guy and his son standing there inside the waiting area looking out the window. They were both staring at my car trying to figure out what it was. The kid was all shocked "That's a HONDA!??!"

I had a guy at a gas station STARING out the window at my car yesterday. It happens quite often at gas stations for some reason. The employees end up with their faces stuck to the window looking out at my car until I leave.

While I was filling up yesterday a lady that had 2 young girls with her (like 7-10 years old) saw that we had a video camera and walked up to us asking what we were recording. We pointed at the car and she asked if she should have her daughters lay across the hood or something. My friend and I were both in shock and he said to her "uhhh they're a bit young for that." Then she just kept on talking and wouldn't go away. It makes me nervous when people that obviously aren't all there walk up to me and my car like that.

Last week a guy at a gas station (jeez I must drive a lot) was checking out my car. I was filling my tank and he says "That's a great car!" I didn't really know what to say since I wasn't sure if he meant the car in general or my particular one so I just said thanks. Then he said that he does RC cars and that the car bodies modeled after the NSX are the best ones. It was a bit weird but he was friendly. He didn't know much about the car but he sure liked it.

Last week there was a Hispanic guy in a landscaping truck practically hanging out of the passenger window to look at my car. He started pointing and waving to get the attention of the other guys in the truck to look. That one was pretty funny.

I too get the ugly Civic with coffee can exhaust pulling up next to me and making a buncha noise like I'm going to be impressed or something. That happens to me about 4x as often as the other kinds of stories I mentioned.

 

[Ready2Huynh]

I get a lot of people that snap pics with their cell phones at stop lights and while driving(which is a little sketchy sometimes but I try and keep a safe distance from those multi-tasker drivers :wink.

The first week I got my car home: one by one all my neighbors venchored up every time I had my garage open to see my car cause most of them had no idea what it was. I really had no idea the attention this car attracts.

 

[Kyras]

I get a lot of people that snap pics with their cell phones at stop lights and while driving(which is a little sketchy sometimes but I try and keep a safe distance from those multi-tasker drivers :wink.

...I really had no idea the attention this car attracts.

I've had people in cars take photos, too. I don't mind too much when it's a kid in the back seat but when it's the driver on the freeway and I'm doing 65 mph, it makes me nervous. I have been surprised at the attention the car gets, too. I usually enjoy explaining that it's a RELIALBLE Honda and not a Vette. :smile:

 

[VegasSpeed]

Just to play devil's advocate. Vette's aren't known for being unreliable as I recall. They just have some cheaply made interior parts. Now a Ferrari is another story.

 

[Kyras]

Just to play devil's advocate. Vette's aren't known for being unreliable as I recall. They just have some cheaply made interior parts. Now a Ferrari is another story.

Hmm. Maybe my info is dated. Last I heard Vettes were always breaking.

 

[R13]

Just to play devil's advocate. Vette's aren't known for being unreliable as I recall. They just have some cheaply made interior parts. Now a Ferrari is another story.

I'll see your devil's advocate and raise you one. Ferraris only got a bad rep for reliability due to inept owners. I know an engineer that owns and actually tracks an 86 Testarossa. Meticulous maintenance = no reliability issues. F-cars just require a bit more than the Porsche/Vette that the surgeon/lawyer/movie star in question traded in on it. It's not what you own, it's how you own it...to butcher the cliche'.

 

[Airwolf NSX]

Kyras, you own a S2k & a NSX? You have the best of both worlds!

 

[Kyras]

Kyras, you own a S2k & a NSX? You have the best of both worlds!

Yep. :smile: Got my first S2000 in March 2001. It was a Silverstone but I wanted a blue one, so I got a 2005 Suzuka blue S2000 in November 2004. Just got my '05 NSX in March. Two different animals. Love them both.

 

[BATMANs]

:tongue:

 

[ryans]

a couple came by my house yesterday to buy some item I had listed on CL. Well I just had washed and waxed my NSX in the garage. Oh man, they stopped and starred at my car for at least 5 minutes. They both loved the car. Everyone trips when I tell them it's a 92 because my car doesn't have a single dent or nick on it, except the front bumper.

I hardly drive the car anymore and I was thinking of maybe selling it and getting a Honda Element. I know that's a weird jump but I got 2 kids now and I like to go bicycling.

 

[garyb]

Buy the Honda Element, but keep the NSX.
In a couple of years when you want another one the price of a nice NSX will be sky high.
I had a Porsche 356 and sold it to buy a larger Honda.
As you know the price of old Porsches 356, 912 or 911s are out of this world and they dont come close to a NSX.
Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[EuroBoutique]

You’d be surprised but there’s quite a few NSX owners that also has s2000’s or vice versa. Both are a rare dying breed among Honda owners and everyone owes it to themselves to drive both cars at least onc if you can’t own it.

I’m not sure where most of you guys live or maybe it’s cuz my te is such a low key color but I RARELY get anyone looking at my car or asking questions ~ seriously! All the better for me since I prefer to be under the radar. Or perhaps here in norcal we see just about every brand of exotic on a daily basis but the NSX is not so special around here. I bet if I ever take it back to Chicago or even Portland that would change. My assumption is the posts here are from “other” areas.

 

[Dhalsim]

a couple came by my house yesterday to buy some item I had listed on CL. Well I just had washed and waxed my NSX in the garage. Oh man, they stopped and starred at my car for at least 5 minutes. They both loved the car. Everyone trips when I tell them it's a 92 because my car doesn't have a single dent or nick on it, except the front bumper.

I hardly drive the car anymore and I was thinking of maybe selling it and getting a Honda Element. I know that's a weird jump but I got 2 kids now and I like to go bicycling.

Would you sell your soul too???

 

[WingZ]

I drove my NSX to the Colorado Springs area last week, from Orange County in Southern California. Every time I stopped, for gas or at a view point, I got questions, like, "What is it?" or "I love your car!" In Richfield, Utah, three teenage employees in a Burger King were lined up inside, looking out the window looking at it. The cashier in the gas station told me he thought it was a Ferrari but after going outside and looking all around it, he figured it out. I think my license plate helps me get fewer questions, though.

I took these three photos in Colorado on the 103 road near Echo Lake. Poor baby got very dirty and wet on the way to Colorado.

LBBP stops them cold every time:biggrin: