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Acura NSX is industry's first supercar with a female design lead

Michelle Christensen. Unless you've been casting about the web for some behind-the-scenes takes on recent exotic car launches or were unusually curious during the early days of the sport crossover trend, her name probably means nothing to you. She grew up in Northern California, where her family drag-raced. Venerables like the 1932 Ford, Plymouth GTX, and Dodge Super Bee rolled through her family garage. And Christensen grew up designing prom dresses for friends and dreaming of working in a pit crew. In fact, she didn't even realize car design was a real profession until junior high, when her father pointed out Chip Foose at a car show. After that, she was hooked, so she went to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where she reimagined the Plymouth Barracuda as her senior project. Today, Christensen can add the title of lead exterior designer on the 2016 Acura NSX to her resume. The first woman to lead the shape of a supercar, Christensen actually opened up her "First!" account with Acura in 2005 when the company swooped her up the night of graduation and she became its first female exterior car designer. Her first sketch on the job was a concept for the ZDX, and the bigwigs chose her design for production. She joined the NSX team after the mid-engined concept was introduced at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, replacing the front-engined V10 concept (we encourage you to go back and look at what was versus what is). Christensen thereafter led a crew of eight through a rework of the sheetmetal, with the focus being to keep the "emotional, 3-D kind of feeling." Reminiscing about her family's utterly unadorned '32 Ford hot rod, she said the NSX team was committed to keeping the design simple and light. Wind tunnel work led to larger bumper, hood and side intakes for better airflow on the production model. That, along with a switch in engine position, gave them a chance to go aggressive and to not only "punch more holes in it and make it more exotic," but also "take it to the gym and beef it up." In line with its decidedly un-retro rebirth, the third brake light that runs across the decklid is about the only nod to its predecessor. At age 34, we're certain we haven't seen the last of Christensen or her designs. Related Video:  

2023 Acura Integra looks a little Civic-like in spy photos

After a couple of fairly revealing teasers, we finally have a good look at what seems to be the real-life 2023 Acura Integra. It comes to us via a member of IntegraForums.com, and, certainly a number of the styling cues match up to the teasers, but we're also detecting a bit of Civic influence. Of course, that wouldn't be a surprise considering the size of the upcoming Integra, or even the model's history. Up at the front, the Integra is Acura business as usual. It has the hawk-eye headlights and wide pentagonal grille with a sort of starburst grille mesh. The hood has nice creases and curves that flow into the front fascia. Along the sides are where we see a bit of what seems like Civic influence bleed through, mainly with the greenhouse. The shape of the windows and frames in the doors look very close to those on the Civic hatchback. Even the door-mounted mirrors look similar. But there are aspects that differentiate it. Most notably, there seems to be a diagonal crease that starts low on the front wheel well and rises up toward the rear fenders. It gives the car a lower, more curvy look than the square-shouldered Civic. It also helps add some visual heft to the rear fenders. At the back, the hatchback design is obvious, and also lends further credence to our theory the car is Civic-based. But obviously it's been majorly tweaked for the Acura. The bottom sill for the hatch looks much higher than on the Civic, and the shut line matches the slender taillights (which seem to be dead ringers for the teaser rendering). All of this helps the tail of the Acura look low and wide, including the location of the license plate in the bumper instead of the hatch. So it seems like the Integra will be based on the Civic, but with plenty of changes. And that's pretty much how the Integra and even its interim replacement, the ILX, have been. They've all been derived from the Civic, often with major design and mechanical differences. Also, with how excellent we've found the new Civic, it's a great starting point for Acura's new entry-level model. The car will be revealed fully next spring, and we should have many more details then. Related Video: 2022 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring Inside and Out | Autoblog

Acura NSX Concept is pretty on the inside, too [w/video]

The Acura NSX is still a couple years away from production (isn't it always?), but Acura has taken the dark window tint off last year's concept and opened the doors to show us what the interior of the car looks like. From what we can tell on the show-floor display, Acura's hybrid supercar will not only have a sexy exterior design, it will look great from the inside as well, but Acura pointed out that this is just "one possible direction" the interior could go. We suppose that means we can look forward to many more NSX concepts - you won't hear any complaints from us.
Building on Acura's latest tagline of "the synergy between man and machine," the NSX promises to provide a "human connected space" offering a simplified layout presumably chocked full of technology. Looking inside the concept reveals a cabin wrapped in maroon leather with sport bucket seats that will certainly provide plenty of support. We're sure there will be more information about the car and its interior at upcoming auto shows, but until then, scroll down for Acura's press release.