Honda NSX restomod on the way with race engineering and Pininfarina style
Pininfarina and JAS Motorsport will enhance the NSX with a sympathetic touch, to modernise Japan’s ’90s supercar
It was surely a matter of when, not if, someone would give the original Honda NSX supercar the restomod treatment. Now it’s finally happened and, happily, it looks like the Japanese icon is in the right hands. Italy’s JAS Motorsport, decorated race car developer and preparer (and long-time Honda collaborator), is on the engineering, while Pininfarina is on the design.
Developed as an iteration of the 1990 Honda NSX, what will be a ‘modern definition’ of the car is on the way with new carbonfibre bodywork and an ‘original NSX-inspired’ naturally aspirated V6, powering the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission.
> Used Honda NSX (1999 - 2006) review: Japan's original supercar
The original NSX is famously modest in terms of power outputs, with the usual (for the era) 270bhp and just 210lb ft, even with a red line of 8000rpm. JAS is teasing ‘the highest levels of power, torque and responsiveness’, so without forced induction, surely even more revs are on the way. Certainly, it’d be our preference that the NSX is enhanced with a lighter touch than say, the TWR Supercat. Cool though that car is, the NSX in its base form is much closer to ideal than, say, an old V12 XJS…
To appearances the changes are subtle but definitely noticeable. The renderings show a wider, more purposeful NSX, with almost disturbingly large wheels (as they always are in such illustrations). It’s got an NSX-R-esque air outlet in the nose and a smattering of LED daytime running lights, while retaining its pop-up main lights. At the rear, we can see a higher NSX-R-ish wing, which is flowed into the bodywork more gracefully than the original, with an LED reinterpretation of the NSX’s iconic width-spanning rear lights. No sign of an NSX-R GT-style top-inlet feeding a set of ITBs, sadly…
As well as sculpting the appearance of the new exterior bodywork and lighting, Pininfarina will be overhauling the NSX’s cabin to bring it up to date, while maintaining a tactile feel and analogue interactivity. Little else is known about the car, apart from that it’ll be ‘fitted with refined mechanical elements derived from the world of motorsport’.
JAS has a 25-year history with Honda and 30 years of experience in preparing competition cars, with cars either built or prepared by JAS having won more than 900 events. For now the updated Honda NSX is soon set to enter the prototype phase. The car will eventually be built by JAS at its Arluno facility in Milan. A full reveal, at which point we’ll learn more about the car, is due in the first half of 2026.
