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Acura NSX electric revival? 'I would bet on it'

This year marks the end of the Acura NSX as we know it. Its swan song, the 600-horsepower 2022 Type S, saw only 300 made for the U.S. market, and all of them sold out in 24 hours. It's barely disappeared over the horizon, but Acura's V.P. and brand officer is already previewing the NSX's third act. Speaking with Nikkei Asia, Jon Ikeda was asked whether a third generation NSX was forthcoming. "I would bet on it," he said. Ikeda also predicted that if the wager lands in his favor, "it's going to be [all-]electric." This falls in line with statements Ikeda made a year ago. At the time, he explained that the NSX emerges when parent company Honda wants to make a statement: The first generation was Honda's vision for an F1-derived petrol-powered supercar; the second generation arrived as an affordable hybrid halo car in the age of gasoline-electrics. He didn't elaborate on the third generation's powertrain back then, but this time Ikeda was more adamant about electric power.  Part of Ikeda's certainty, the article states, comes from global CEO Toshihiro Mibe's commitment to electrify Honda's lineup. Soon after taking the top job in April 2021, Mibe announced plans to convert Honda's entire lineup to EVs and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2040. As for what kind of car an electric NSX would be, Ikeda has some ideas. "It won't be just about straight lines," he told Nikkei Asia. Blistering acceleration is already common in the electric supercar world, so Acura would need to bring something novel to the table. Ikeda wants the NSX to be a technological showcase for ultimate handling as well, something the outgoing NSX did with its driver-focused Super Handling AWD system.  We've long bemoaned how the new breed of electrified supercars have incredible specs on paper, but somehow don't feel as engaging to drive. That's a niche Acura could fill. In the often contentious give and take between American Honda and Honda Motor's engineering departments, the Japan mothership tends to win out. However, these days Honda barely sells anything beyond kei cars in Japan. It's up to leaders like Ikeda and those who understand the U.S. market to drag the company toward the performance-minded engineering philosophies Old Man Soichiro founded his business on. Related video:

Acura Precision EV Concept teased ahead of Monterey reveal

Acura is getting ready to to unveil a new all-electric concept to showcase the brand's design language as it enters the age of electrification. A brief teaser video providing a glimpse of the car was released today accompanied by precious little information, but we can still glean a few tidbits. The name, Acura Precision EV Concept, offers the first clue. Acura has applied the name "Precision" to flagship concepts in the past. The stunning 2016 Precision Concept was also said to define a new design language for the brand. It became a template for cars like the RDX and MDX, but it most resembled the sharp-looking TLX sedan that debuted in 2020 for the 2021 model year. In the intervening years, luxury marques have become far more likely to introduce an electrified crossover as a flagship than an internal combustion sedan. The Precision EV concept seems to fit that mold. From the video, we can see that the vehicle will have a rather tall section of black cladding below the "grille" area, as well as some contouring above the wheel wells. This suggests it's quite likely an SUV rather than a low-slung sedan.  The would-be grille area now projects an illuminated Acura logo. The formerly high relief diamond shapes converging on the central emblem are now distinct lighting elements, with the same pattern repeated in a lower fog lamp areas on either side of the nose. Acura's signature jewel-eye headlights with chicane DRLs are now slimmer and wider, meeting the grille area at the inner points. So, what is it? Quite likely, we'll soon see a preview of Acura's upscale version of the Honda Prologue, an EV collab with General Motors. Riding on GM's Ultium battery platform that will underpin Cadillac Lyriq, Honda has announced that the Prologue will spawn an Acura as well. Finally, thanks to unearthed trademark filings, we are led to believe that it will be named the Acura ADX. Whatever it's called, it's not expected to hit the roads until the 2024 model year. That fits with the Precision EV Concept's August 18 unveiling at this month's Monterey Car Week festivities. Related video:

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Acura Legend Sedan

Honda beat Toyota and Nissan in the race to bring a luxury marque to North America, introducing us to the Acura brand for the 1986 model year. Acura shoppers could buy a luxed-up, more powerful Civic (the Integra) that year, while the real high-rollers went for a smooth-looking, V6-powered luxury sedan co-developed by Rover and Honda: the Legend. That was quite a leap for a company that had been selling tiny cars with two-cylinder motorcycle engines just 15 years earlier, but the 1973-1985 period had been spectacularly good times for Honda. The early Legend sold very well in California, and that's where I found this high-mile '87 a couple of months back. While the Legend had the same underlying chassis structure and engine family as the Rover 800 (known as the Sterling in North America), the Honda-grade build quality and non-Lucas electrical components of the Legend meant that it outlasted its Rover cousins by decades and hundreds of thousands of miles. This one didn't quite make it to 300,000 miles, but 281,032 miles blows away the readings I see on most 1980s junkyard cars not made by Mercedes-Benz. It's hard to imagine a prestigious luxury sedan with three pedals these days, but plenty of the early Legends were sold here with the five-speed manual transmission. Starting in the early 1990s, though, nearly all U.S.-market Legends had slushboxes (though the manual could be had all the way through the final Legends of 1995). Every Legend ever made came with a V6 engine. This car has a 2.5-liter DOHC rated at 151 horsepower, while the 1987 Legend coupe got a 2.7 making 161 horses. Other than the worn-out front seats, the interior in this car looked fairly decent when it arrived in its final parking space. Most super-high-mile cars I see in junkyards aren't very trashed-looking, presumably due to owners who took good care of them for decades (I do see the occasional exception to this rule, of course). The body shows no rust, as you'd expect in California, but the paint hasn't fared so well over its 33 years. It's the performance sedan making European automakers uncomfortable. Unlike many of the wild Japanese-market car ads of the 1980s, Honda pitched the JDM Legend in a most dignified manner. Featured Gallery Junked 1987 Acura Legend Sedan View 15 Photos Auto News Acura Automotive History Classics Acura Legend