Currently reading: Honda rethinks NSX replacement
Japanese maker bins Advanced Sports Car concept design and starts again

Forget almost everything you've read about the future of Acura's Advanced Sports Car Concept, the big supercar coupe shown at the Detroit motor show in January as a taster for the next Honda NSX. When we saw it, we were led to believe Honda had it in mind for the road. Then, Honda let it be known that the design would change in time for October's Tokyo Show, when we'd see a more 'finished' version. Now we hear that that Tokyo Show car will also be 'just for show'. Honda, it seems, is teasing the global media with the automotive equivalent of the dance of the seven veils. Behind the scenes, Honda is now working on a completely new, third generation design, according to a source familiar with the project, because Honda top brass are not happy with supercar designs so far. This is the second time Honda has changed direction on finding a replacement for Honda's highly-regarded supercar, after it teased us with the HSC concept at Tokyo in 2003, and then decided to abandon the design. The Advanced Sports Car concept's proportions, front-mounted V10 engine and four-wheel drive layout will carry over to the finished car, said our informant, but production could now be put back to 2010.

Peter Nunn

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