Pininfarina's redesigned Honda NSX name and design revealed – meet the 'Tensei'
Pininfarina and JAS Motorsport are working on a restomod of the iconic Honda NSX for those bored of backdated Porsche 911s
In October 2025 Italy’s JAS Motorsport, decorated race car developer and preparer (and long-time Honda collaborator) and styling house Pininfarina announced it was working on a restomod project for the 1990's Honda NSX, and while they still haven't provided a single detail of note about the project, it has released some nice images and confirmed the car will be called: Tensei. It means rebirth in Japanese in case you were wondering.
Developed as an iteration of the 1990 Honda NSX, it will be a ‘modern definition’ of the car that will feature a new carbonfibre body and an ‘original NSX-inspired’ naturally aspirated V6, powering the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission. Just as it was over thirty years ago.
> 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’, for the Tensei which suggests now forced induction and a much higher rev limit. 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.
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 the Tensei 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.
