1991 Acura NSX: Collectible, Schmellectible

Amen to your last sentence! Preach it, JayK!

Jay, if you own a 2000GT, there's a good chance You Only Live Twice.

Most Japanese cars aren't collectible because NO cars like them are. Most were economy-type cars. As for the few true Japanese sports cars (NSX, some Zs, and the RX-7), these no less 'collectable' than plain-jane corresponding Porsches of the day. Nobody's making money on 924s, 944s, or most 911s of the same era.

Let's see how much money you make selling the 911.

In my opinion the engineers who designed these machines never intended them to sit in museums or garages collecting dust. No car is more beautiful than when it's cruising down the road. And no car should be purchased as an investment. Drive it or not, you will spend money on parts, storage, insurance and such. I agree, keep up the maintainence and drive the hell out of it and if it appreciates above all of the amount of money you spent...great, if not at least you get to enjoy the car for the purpose it was intended. Even cars that do happen to appreciate need to be driven.

I have a friend who has a very beautiful 1980s Corvette that gets driven less than 500 mi/yr. It sits in a garage with a cover on it for months at a time and no one gets to appreciate it. My friend says he doesn't want the value to go down. To which I respond...its an "80s" Corvette, they're all over the place. A signifiant amount of the mileage on his car is going to the shop to get parts replaced that have deteriorated over time. If he sold it today he still wouldn't break even and he never truly enjoyed the car. It just makes me want to cry. But then I climb into my NSX and take a nice long drive on my favorite curvey road and all is right with the world.

texases says:

"As for the few true Japanese sports cars (NSX, some Zs, and the RX-7), these no less 'collectable' than plain-jane corresponding Porsches of the day."

Toyota 2000 GT. And probably the LFA.

Anyway, this is how I feel about everything. What's the good of having something you can't get any use out of? This is why I'll never be a collector of "rare art" nor own an Aston Martin/Ferrari/Lambo/etc.

I once owned an Ariel Square Four ( http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-british-motorcycles/1952-ariel-square-four.aspx ), which I rode the piss out of and then sold after it was too worn out to ride any more. I thought hard about completely rebuilding the motor, but it would've been massively expensive, and I'd gotten my money's worth out of it--and enjoyed every second of it--so I figured it had fulfilled its purpose with me. I told the guy I sold it to that it was a helluva fun ride. He replied that he'd be completely restoring it and putting it "a collection", and he didn't plan on ever riding it. I almost told him no dice to that shit and handed his money back, but then the theme from "Dif'rent Strokes" started playing in my head, followed rapidly by "We're in the money!"

Cars that are driven, as rule, are bad investments. And if you can't drive them, they really become more like art rather than something one can enjoy through using it in the way in which it was intended.

That said, how about the middle ground of patina. You know, driving it in close to OE shape fixing every little thing along the way, keeping up on maitenance, waxing it even once a year, etc.

I'd rather drive a 200K mile car with issues attended to over time than some 75K riced out, modded in no way tasteful, poorly maintained but still shiny car. The latter has been the fate of many Japanese cars. That and they accrue a lot of miles. A lot of miles to a collector is 20-25K. A lot of Euro cars didn't run well after awhile or people didn't drive them much b/c of costs/finickiness. Then the mothball effect took over.

Time will tell on the NSX. I'd say if you can sell it for near what you paid for it, you are still ahead.

And I'm with the good Dr. Ferry.... drive em. Not driving it is just storing it for the next guy.

I've watched a few RX-7s sell for a lot more money than I would have thought on eBay last year. There was a 1984 GSL-SE with 18k miles in very nice condition (not mint, but very nice) that sold for $18k after 80+ bids. And a 1991 convertible with 38k miles in very nice condition sold for $16k after nearly 40 bids. Not huge money, but they definitely have been on the rise. Restored Mazda RX-2s can go for a pretty penny.

I DISAGREE. With the collectibility of the NSX. Why the hell does being Japanese makes it not a collectible. They are a beautiful and well engineered machine. They set the sports car world on its heels. They are RARE, especially in stock form. How many all aluminum hand made mid-engined sports cars are there. How many are approved and tuned by Ayrton Senna.

Look out there and see how many stock NSXs are left. Science of Speed has been selling dine mods for the NSX for decades. It is truly hard to own one and not have the urge to change or "upgrade" this machine.

Stock NSXs in rare colors, in excellent condition that have all maintenance done correctly and on time are collectible cars. Once Gen 2 hits with a price for the wealthy, the Gen 1 (as described above) will be in big demand.

Well said JK.

Collecting cars is best left to the wealthy like Jay Leno or Bill Gates. They have the resources to maintain them, and with so many cars is their garage, it's hard to put many miles on just one. I believe both of them have an NSX.

There is, however, a growing group of admirers for Japanese imports:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/automobiles/revenge-of-the-econobox-early-japanese-imports-find-admirers.html?pagewanted=all

These won't fetch a high price compared to classic cars from Europe, but they do command a high price relative to their sticker price.

cars are a depreciating asset, so it doesn't make much sense to collect it... also this asset sitting around for decades doesn't keep the parts that like to move very happy. that said, this car commands more than it is currently valued by KBB, so it is certainly special. collectors do collect NSX's, so by that definition, it is collectible. is it collectible to me? yes... but i drive the hell out of it... and you can pry the car keys out from my dead hands one day.

Here is a 1985 Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE with 32k miles on eBay. As of this post, it had 31 bids, $12,300, reserve not met. Price of this car brand new was about $15k.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/30K-Original-Mile-RX-7-GSL-SE-/220953358610?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3371d8b112

Here is another Japanese future non-collectible. A 1990 Mazda RX-7 Turbo II, already pretty uncommon nowadays, especially stock like this one. Recently listed, 9 bids, $8,000, reserve not met.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Perfect-condition-Mazda-RX7-Turbo-II-FC3S-/180820232924?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2a19b9cadc

When I think back at all the collectible cars I owned, my brain always says, "You could be rich today, if you had kept those cars." Well, the truth is that I could never have afforded keeping them for five decades.

I will always have the memories, though. Which don't cost a penny.

Stock, low-mileage, mint-condition NSXs and Supra MKIVs are worth every penny, whatever the price!

And you know this.............MAN!
BD