According to reports from Japan, Honda President Takanobu Ito has stated that the company is has restarted development on a high-performance sports car that will be positioned as the successor of the critically acclaimed NSX. The announcement was made on Friday, at a press conference detailing Honda’s 2011 motorsport involvement.
Mr. Takanobu said that the new model would be based on the HSV-010GT racecar, introduced in January. However, it’s unclear if it will use the same naturally aspirated 3.4-liter V8 engine, capable of more than 500-horsepower and over 392 Nm (289 lb-ft) of torque, or another powerplant.
By developing a street legal version of the Super GT competition model, Honda will respect an unwritten rule of the series, according to which all participating automakers have both a race and street legal version of a given nameplate.
“I think Honda should respect the history of the Super GT competition (as a stock-car race)”, Ito said.
Last but not least, the company official also talked about an affordable, small sports car, which could follow the NSX replacement.
“There are two types of sports cars--affordable and high-performance. I hope we will be able to market both”, he added.
