This^^^
My NSX story (and please pardon me for being long-winded, the answer to the OP's question is not a simple one): I've been a motorhead since my dad helped me buy my first mini-bike when I was 13, bitten and smitten since the first time I threw it sideways in our gravel driveway. I went from there to enduro dirt bikes that I modded to help me keep up with my friends on their motocrossers. Got my first car in '73, a '66 Mustang convertible, then an '86 Prelude, a '91 300ZX (NA), a '90 Prelude SI that I got in '97 as a DD to relieve the Z of those chores (and then sold the Z to buy my house), and lastly, the '03 S2000 that I got in '08 when the Prelude SI finally gave up the ghost. There were a couple of street bikes along the way too.
I came from a family of very modest means so I always bought used, except the Z, a case of mad money around the time of my divorce, and I always chose cars and bikes that were known for their handling. Power and pure speed were never that important to me, I liked the challenge of building the skills needed to handle a car or bike at speed in the curves and I wanted hardware that was up to the task. My parents drilled into me the need to stay focused on "the important things in life" - building a career, buying a house, saving as much as possible for the future - so I never had big dreams or high aspirations. I honestly can't remember ever dreaming about having or being anything beyond what I already had or was.
And then along came the Sept. '90 issue of Motor Trend and its first full test of the NSX. The statement "It's the best sports car the world has ever produced, any time, any place, any price." gave me goosebumps. The two things that attracted me the most were that it was an engineering masterpiece, the closest thing to mechanical perfection to ever hit the street, and the handling, "the first car to bring true Formula 1 handling standards to a production sports car". It became the first and only thing I've ever wanted badly enough to dream about. But for a computer programmer not even a third of the way through his career, it was an impossible dream - things like that just weren't in the budget and probably never would be. So I settled for just being able to drive one someday and experience what it's like to drive a car that good, and pushed the dream of owning one into the back of my mind where it couldn't get in the way of "the important things in life".
But with a lot of very hard work and single-minded focus, the important things started to take shape. I moved up pretty quickly in salary, set up a retirement plan/portfolio, bought a house in '97 with some help from the Z, and spent very little on "stuff" beyond the necessities. Every spare penny went toward paying off the house and achieving whatever illusion of financial security might come with being out of debt. And in March of 2015, with the help of a phat, hard-earned severance package, I made the final payment on the house and was completely out of debt. One month later I made the one and only dream I've ever had come true and bought [MENTION=18194]Honcho[/MENTION]'s car.
It's amazing to me how his car became available right at the time I was ready to buy one. His vision for the car was all but identical to what I wanted in one, and what he said in his post on this thread about the experience of driving an NSX versus the other cars out there is exactly how I feel. The things that make the NSX special to me: 1) it's an engineering masterpiece, 2) it was hands-down the best handling sports car of that time and is still one of the best ever, 3) it's a landmark car that marks the moment in time when the sports car world was changed forever, for the better, and 4) it's a Honda, my favorite brand anyway, with all that that name means in terms of comfort, convenience, and reliability.
So with the NSX checking every box that's important to me in a motor vehicle, and being my one and only dream come true, I don't see myself ever selling it unless/until I'm physically unable to drive it and experience the joy that it brings me every single time I take it out on the road. I worked too hard and waited too long for it to ever give it up, especially for some other car that has none of what ties the NSX so tightly to my heart.
. Although, I’m not going to hold my breath but at least there may be something to look forward to.
Need to hear that Super Ti exhaust again. How's she runnin?
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