Is Acura revving up its profile, along with its fleet?
For “Seinfeld” fans, it was a typically Seinfeldian stroll down Memory Lane with lots of in-jokes, like the opener about Jerry offering another Acura aficionado a $20 bribe so he can be first on the list for the NSX. (Remember the episode in which Jerry throws $20 out the window and then finds $20, proving his theory that everything in life always evens out for him?)
The pièce de résistance comes at the end: Just as Jerry has finally found a bribe the guy will take – access to his personal network of Manhattan zip-lines – fellow collector Jay Leno arrives to scurry the guy away on his jet-pack flying squirrel suit.
“Leno,” Jerry says, gnashing his teeth. Good stuff.
But wait, there’s more: The NSX makes an appearance – albeit as a modified convertible – as genius/billionaire/playboy/philanthropist Tony Stark’s preferred mode of transport in “The Avengers,” the superheroes film starring Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson that’s due in theaters May 4. The folks at Acura stress that “The Avengers” car was made just for the movie, the returning NSX is 18 months to three years away, the design is subject to change, blah, blah, blah. But then, you surmised this, didn’t you?
The point is that the trailblazing NSX — the first Japanese super-car when it appeared in 1990 — is coming back, in a new and improved form, of course. The sports car still has sleek curves like the two-seat original, which was part of Honda’s luxury brand lineup until 2005. But now there’s an electric motor up front to go along with the V-6 engine, making this an all-wheel-drive hybrid. Acura calls it “a chance to test the boundaries between evolution and revolution.”
In the meantime, Acura fans can amuse themselves with the 2013 RDX, combining efficiency and power, and the brand-new luxury sedan, the ILX.
“Are you ready?” Acura.com asks.
Yes, we are.
