Here's Why Prices For An Original Acura NSX Are On The Rise
For fans of fast cars that fit well into everyday life, the Acura NSX is the stuff that dreams are made of. Truthfully, this car is beloved to the point that you could spend days online looking up praise for it and still not get through all the fan pages and positive posts on car forums. However, one thing still holds true — the original NSX is one of the best in the entire model's history.
Sure, the NSX may have gotten flashier over the years and maybe some model years are a bit faster than the original, but we can't get over the raw speed and power that this icon achieved before Acura felt the need to continue to top itself with every model. One strong measure of the reputation of a classic sports car is what it sells for on the used car market. The value of the NSX is shooting up and even surpassing modern models, which haven't been as popular as Acura had hoped (via Auto 123).
A bit about the original NSX
What people love about the original NSX is what they also appreciate about other Japanese competitors from the 1990s, such as the Toyota Supra. It's a car designed for thrills, but it's also one that works well for general day-to-day life; this is why the NSX is known as the everyday supercar. It should also be noted that the NSX falls under the Honda nameplate outside of North America and Hong Kong, which means some fans refer to it as the Acura NSX, but many call it the Honda NSX.
The 1991 Acura NSX is a special model for a great reason: this car is powered by a 3-liter DOHC engine and has two transmission options. One is a 5-speed stick shift that has a max horsepower of 270 at 7,100 rpm; the second option was an automatic with 252 horsepower at 6,600 rpm (via Honda News). Both the manual and automatic versions of this car have a torque of 210 lb-ft at 5,300 rpm. According to Carindigo, the 1991 Acura NSX can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in only 5.9 seconds. While this isn't the fastest car on the road by today's standards, it was considered pretty swift for its time. The true heights for the NSX in terms of power and speed would arrive later on.
Why the prices skyrocketing?
There have been a few reasons given for why the original NSX — and other cars of the same era — have been steadily increasing in value. Of all of them, the most plausible seems to be a trend among Generation Xers who are buying them all up because they finally have the means to do so (via Hagerty). This may sound a bit goofy, but these people were around for the birth of the NSX and while the model wasn't incredibly expensive in relation to other supercars, it still had a starting MSRP of about $60,000. For most members of Gen X, that price was out of their range but they really loved these cars. Now, many of them can afford to pay a pretty penny for the pleasure of owning a 1991 Acura NSX, which drives up the price due to the demand.
To show the price difference, several years ago a good condition NSX would sell for around $40,000. However, that same car may now go for more than $100,000, easily (via Car Gurus). Even a fair condition 1991 NSX can fetch over $30,000 on today's used car market. This is the prime example of demand fueling the market, as well as the impact a generation of people can have. That said, we're just glad the NSX name lives on, even if people aren't turning out in droves to buy the new one.