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Would you pay $420K for an Acura NSX?

3 August, 2016

Whoa, never in my life did I think that a Honda, or Acura in this instance, would sell for close to half a million dollars new, however Honda in Australia have announced that their local examples will sell for a steep $420K — suggesting ours won’t be far off. During early 2015, Honda New Zealand had quoted the revolutionary supercar to sell for around $200K. But $420K seems cheap though, when you compare it to what Nascar owner Rick Hendrick paid for his $1.8 million example, which was the first one off the production line. If you thought $420K bought you all the bells and whistles, you’d be wrong. An extra $1500 will get you metallic paint, and you’ll need to fork out a further $10K if you opt for the Valencia Red Pearl, which is said to be the NSX’s new hero colour. 

From what I’ve seen, the Acura NSX is full of technology and drives accordingly. However, I do think that this example is going to go down in history as a seriously disjointed-from-its-roots supercar that Hollywood celebrities will buy in the masses, shifting away from the true Honda motorsport heritage. An unfortunate thought, but I’m calling it now. There’s nothing even remotely similar to the original released in the early ’90s, whereas at least the R35 GT-R is still twin turbo, all-wheel drive, with six cylinders. 

Probably the only variant of the latest NSX that gets me excited is the GT3 version, which is rid of its twin electric motor units, and sports a much more aggressive race-inspired appearance. 

For comparison, the 2017 Nissan GT-R will be priced from $191K, a 2013 Ferrari 458 Italia with low kilometres will cost you $389K, or a beach house in the North Island of New Zealand can be had for the same amount. Hard choice! 

Bronze treasure unearthed

20 August, 2026

The car was put away in favour of something more practical, and when his father was unable to drive any more, Matt’s friend asked him to come and take a look at his dad’s old Holden. It turned out this was one of those phone calls that leads to that feeling of pure joy in the classic car world — the ‘barn find’ that turns out to be even better than expected. The HT Monaro had been put to bed some years before and had not seen the light of day since. Layers of dust and boxes of junk littered her undercarriage and bodywork and access points all around.

NZ Classic Car magazine, September/October 2026 issue 407, on sale now

16 August, 2026

We love bugs!
A bit of TLC that became a major restoration
The 1302S, or ‘Super Beetle’ as it became known, was built for two years before it, too, was replaced by a further-enhanced Beetle, the 1303, continuing an amazing 65-year lineage for one of the World’s best-known shapes.
The world’s best-selling single-model vehicle, the VW Beetle, possibly established another record for the amount of controversy it has created since the inception of the Type 1.
In a meeting with Hitler in June 1934, Ferdinand Porsche was contracted to build a ‘People’s Car’ that could accommodate two adults and three children, was air-cooled and simple to maintain, and could cruise economically at moderate speed along Germany’s proposed new Autobahns.
Our feature car, a 1972 1302S ‘Super Beetle’, was found by Dave and Michelle Dickie in Mosgiel a few years back. It was a runner, but like most VWs of this age, it needed a little TLC. They were looking for a daily driver for Michelle when they first came upon the VW being sold locally on behalf of its owner.
“The owner offered it to his grandchildren, and they didn’t want it, so he got the guy out at Mosgiel in the Mobil petrol station to sell it for him, and he put it on Trade Me for them. We never met the owner, and we were always dealing with the guy at the petrol station. We put a bid on it, and we were the only people that bid on it.”
Their bid was eventually successful, eight years ago. Not knowing much of the history, in situations like that, it’s always a risk buying a car, but they were in for a bit of a surprise.