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As a car salesman, the history of the Acura fascinates me. It can be a great way to understand how Acura has evolved into their modern state. 

Back in the 1980s the Japanese car manufacturer Honda was looking to break into the luxury vehicle market. Their engineers took the initiative to get the Acura project off the ground. In 1986 they opened 60 Acura dealerships across North America where they were able to offer customers their first two vehicles - the Legend and Integra.

The Legend was particularly successful. It was the success of Acura that helped drive the luxury vehicle market into the future. At this time, many of their competitors weren’t even manufacturing luxury vehicles. The Legend was the envy of the market at that time. The benchmark for what a Japanese luxury vehicle should be.

In just four years the brand new company had hundreds of thousands of sales. They weren’t ready to stop there however. In 1990 Acura released their first supercar: the NSX. Their goal was to create a vehicle that could compete with the large European supercar brands of the time.

The NSX was able to be the first all-aluminum production vehicle. This really cut down on the weight which allowed the vehicle to perform better than other cars of the time. The iconic NSX allowed more people across the world to experience the exciting world of supercars. The NSX was originally in production from 1990 until 2005. 

The 90s were a hard time for Japanese businesses in what has become to be known as the Lost Decade. Acura’s quality through these years helped keep the company going through these hard times. The 90s also introduced the brand to a new set of customers who liked to tinker with their vehicles. The Integra line was especially popular among this crowd.

Looking back at their early designs, Acura reintroduced and reimagined the NSX in 2016. They kept with the old spirit of creating an accessible supercar, but ensuring the vehicle performs the best it can in a modern market. For example, they’ve made sure to keep the car light, but they’ve been able to improve on old designs by incorporating carbon fiber which is incredibly strong and lightweight.

At Valencia Acura these new NSXs are a sight to behold, and they are made that much better by understanding where they came from. They give me a sense of nostalgia where I remember what the original NSXs were like back in the 90s, but they have all the power and luxuries you have come to expect in a modern car.