Pimped by Honda
If you think this looks like an Honda S2000 that’s been in the TV show Pimp my Ride, you're absolutely correct. Except this car is pimped by Honda themselves to hide the new Honda NSX underneath. While the old NSX was a mid-engined car, the new one will get a 5.0 liter V10 under its front hood, although highly improbably that this S2000 mule is equipped with such.
This mule was spotted while driving around at the Nürburgring for some high-speed testing. When it comes to testing their own super sports cars, the Japanese car manufacturers' benchmark car of choice is the Porsche 997 Turbo. Toyota uses it with the LF-A, Nissan with the GT-R and now also Honda with the new NSX. These three car manufacturers are fighting for bragging rights in Japan for this market segment, but more importantly, credibility in the rest of the world. The Japanese manufacturers have already proven their competitiveness with small and mid-size volume models and now seek to conquer the niche sports and luxury markets currently dominated by the Germans.
If the production version NSX looks anything like the Advanced Sports Car Concept shown at the North American International Auto Show in the beginning of 2007, then it is destined to be one of the hottest cars on the Japanese market. However, acceptance elsewhere might be more difficult particularly in North America where the media has already criticized it as being bland. Since the North American market is priority for such a vehicle, it is rumored that Honda has shredded this concept and gone back to the drafting board, according to Winding Road.
However, if we look at these latest S2000 mule spy photos, one could speculate, the ASC concept design is, in fact, alive and well as seen in the stacked exhaust set-up, which looks very similar to the placement on the concept. Another mysterious detail we noticed in these photos is that the testers from Honda are playing a little game. Maybe just an innocent mistake, but this mule has different Great Britain license plates in the front and back. It's a bit curious for a left hand drive car.
The photos are showing a computer image of how the new NSX could look like under the ASC concept design and four prototype shots of the mule.
