Mr. Honda strikes again

[nsx1164]

Originally posted by ajnsx:
to answer the question is it cool to put acura badges on jap cars in Japan.

I'll leave the "cool" discussion to personal taste, but it IS rare and HAS BEEN done. I've seen a few NSXs in Japan that have Acura badging... some are even LHD in true "US-spec" fashion.

Its interesting once more "badge engineering" takes place, and more parts get shared across makes/marques with dissimilar "badge cachet". The coming Lambo Gallardo and Audi RSR, or the Porsche Cayenne and VW Touareg are two examples that come to mind.

Looks like I'll need to get some AMG badges for my "DCAG" Neon

 

[gheba_nsx]

Ken, I think that saying that Acura association with Honda and Ferrari association with Ferrari are similar is total BS

. Nowhere in the world Ferrari are sold as Fiat or viceversa. They are two complete separate company. Completely.

As a small (important) example, in the FIAT collapse a possible scenario would see GM take over FIAT. But not Ferrari. Not even a small procentage.

Ferrari lived without FIAT for the first 25 years of existence (out of the total 50 years of life). For several years FIAT only owned Ferrari from a share point of view and even now they do not put their nose in the company strategy (luckily I would add).

What about "Acura" and Honda?

 

[gheba_nsx]

nsx1164, my NSX is an example of a Honda rebadged as an Acura. Why? Since nobody understands what it is...

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by gheba_nsx:
Ken, I think that saying that Acura association with Honda and Ferrari association with Ferrari are similar is total BS

But you miss my point. Acura owners are proud of the relationship with Honda. Many other marques would not be proud of the association. Yes, I understand what you're saying that the type of relationship is different, but that's a different point. With the NSX, the Honda name is something to be proud of, not ashamed of like the relationships that other marques have.

 

[bboxer]

Gheba,
You may not be as old as I am to remember, but some of my older Ferraris had Fiat stuff all over; door handles, rear lights, bumpers, seats, brakes, steering racks. OTOH, Fiat had a Dino engine on one of their cars, they even put a Ferrari 3.2 V8 in a Lancia. So the association is pretty close and goes back a few years. But of course I was only jocking when I mentioned Fiat's heritage in the 360. You're right saying the companies are completely independant.

 

[ChrisK]

Originally posted by NeoNSX:
If ChrisK wants to make his NSX look really Japanese, he'd have to rice every part of the car.

Originally posted by pbassjo:
Well Vytas, if you ever want to go back to a stock air bag your car could have more balls.

LOL... but since most of us class the NSX as being female, what's it doing with bags/balls in the first place?

Wow, since when did this topic become about me? I was simply supporting Vytas for doing a nice JDM conversion. No big deal. I'm half Japanese anyway, so I'm proud to rice out my car if it means adding JDM parts is called rice now days. Heck, I already have the NSX-R gears in my car.

 

[gheba_nsx]

Ken, I agree with you on that. I think no Ferrari owner is proud to have "some kind of relation" with FIAT. At least not with post '70s FIAT, before it was not a bad car maker from what I heard.

bboxer, yes they used to have FIAT parts in it. But also Lambo used Nissan parts and Lotus used Toyota parts. It is all a matter of costs... a small producer cannot afford to build everything on their own. And when you were young

probably Ferrari did not sell more than 1000 cars per year!

The use of engine in a "lesser" car? That was also done elsewhere, nobody knows the Opel Omega Lotus? In Europe it was quite famous at the end of the nineties. It was a (ugly) saloon with tuned suspension and the Esprit engine in it!

A rocket for that period...

 

[PHOEN$X]

Originally posted by nsxtasy:
That could be arranged. And it would make your car unique.

Stay away from my car!

Originally posted by nsxtasy:
One day Soichiro (the one here on NSXprime, not Mr. Honda) was at the track with a BMW roundel in place of the NSX front badge. I promptly dubbed the car the MSX.

<font size=1>

[This message has been edited by PHOEN$X (edited 18 February 2003).]