While the Honda S660 may never see these shores, the automaker may have a baby NSX in mind for the U.S. market based on a recent patent filing.
Seven CAD illustrations culled from the filing show a vehicle pulling cues from both current and first-gen NSXs with some S660 for good measure, AutoGuide notes. The illustrations are said to have been created in Honda’s U.S. design studio.
Based on is there, the model may likely have either a mid- or rear-engine layout; whether it will follow in the NSX’s hybrid tire tracks — a setup featuring a twin-turbo V6 and three electric motors good for 550 total horsepower — with its own version remains to be seen.
For now, though, this is close as anyone is going to get to a U.S.-market Beat or S2000 revival. It also wouldn’t be the first time Honda has contemplated such a vehicle, as the automaker has been working on similar designs since at least 2012.
[Image credit: Honda]
I would not cry if Honda built a Fit-sized MR2 homage.
When are they actually going to BUILD the NSX?
I expect to wait another 20 years before we see any mini-NSX’s at this rate.
No joke. I’d take the over on this, maybe 25 years?
Kind of makes the patent pretty pointless then, does it not?
[Somehow I expect these patents to never expire. You can’t allow someone to use “rounded corners” twenty years later without Apple’s permission, can you?]
Remember when the production NSX finally debuted at the Detroit Auto Show, only for the Ford GT to show up out of nowhere and totally upstaged it? Yeah…
…what was the patent application for?..the depicted vehicle could well be a generic placeholder simply for the purpose of illustrating the patent in question, not indicative of a new model in the works…
I wish I knew the answer, but not even the Dutch newspaper responsible for publishing the images in the first place bothered to throw in a link; my own searches for the patent have borne nothing, as well.
Is it common practice to patent a concept car design? This is likely a design study, not something that will actually see production.
Ex: those tiny mirrors
curb smashing front bumper
unusable headlights
that body kit pointing under the tires
I get the feeling its more of a toy design than anything.
Out of curiosity yesterday I googled “2017 Honda S2000”, which pulled up a few rumor articles from last year suggesting this model would ring up at $60,000 or more.
I’d love to get excited about a 300-something-horsepower MR Honda sports car, but not if it’s going to cost just as much as the Boxster/Cayman it will inevitably be compared with. It’s also hard to believe such a car would be badged as a Honda instead of an Acura, at least in the US.
The S2000 was compared to the Boxster and was priced much lower. I would love to see this badged as a Honda.
So I suppose that the US version would be an Acura. If they paint them all silver, you won’t notice the beak.
I’m all for more small/light sports cars on the road, but who will buy them?