For those who recall a time when a Nissan 240SX cost only $1,500, watching 1990s Japanese sports cars transition from affordable performance vehicles to valuable collectibles throughout the 2010s was quite an experience. When I was first starting my career and dreaming of owning an Acura NSX (but settling for a Toyota MR2 because of budget constraints), an NSX was available for the price of a new Toyota Camry. Fast forward to today, and these cars can fetch prices comparable to brand-new Ferraris, as recently demonstrated by the auction of the final NSX Alex Zanardi Edition, which sold for $467 more than a 2020 Ferrari F8 Tributo.
This 1999 Acura NSX Alex Zanardi Edition achieved an impressive auction price of $277,017. It was the last of the 51 models produced to honor Alessandro Zanardi’s consecutive CART championship victories, powered by Honda. According to its Bring a Trailer listing, this NSX was presented as a gift from Honda to motorcycle racer Miguel Duhamel, who remarkably won two races at the 1999 AMA Daytona 200 despite racing with an incomplete recovery from a broken leg.
Duhamel has driven this NSX for just 11,844 miles, and being a 1999 model, it features an advanced 3.2-liter C32B V6 engine. This naturally aspirated unit produces 290 horsepower and 224 pound-feet of torque, delivered through a six-speed manual transmission to the rear wheels, making it a competitive, though not groundbreaking, sports car for its time in the late 1990s.
The specifications of the Zanardi Editions are similar to those of the NSX Type S, being 149 pounds lighter than targa-topped variants thanks to BBS alloy wheels, a fixed roof, thinner glass, and various other reductions. All came in a striking Formula Red with black leather and suede seats, which were accented with red stitching. Each car featured a numbered, autographed plaque to confirm its authenticity.
Although this NSX includes an owner’s manual, a complete service history, and a set of Duhamel’s racing leathers, it’s difficult to justify the hefty price tag it fetched. As Brian “Mr. Regular” Reider once commented regarding used Lotus Elises, for this amount, “one could have a dwelling.” Alternatively, one might opt for a more affordable, faster, and still comparable Lotus Evora and still have money left over for an RV—if you can find a bargain in this COVID-19 era, that is.
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