There are two legendary Italian design houses penning modern interpretations of the Honda NSX right now, and one has been fully revealed. The Tensei, meaning “rebirth” in Japanese, is a carbon fiber-bodied reimagining by Pininfarina, a studio that has birthed some of the most beautiful supercars of all time.
Beneath the rekinned body is a donor NSX with a chassis and powertrain updated by JAS Motorsports. The firm is responsible for building a lot of Honda’s current body-in-white race cars, including the TCR Civic Type R and NSX GT3. The engine will remain faithful to the original NSX, a naturally aspirated V6 mated to a 6-speed manual. Specific horsepower and torque figures have not been disclosed.
The car is curvier with more pronounced fender flares and deeper, reshaped side air intakes. The redesigned nose sports LED lighting, a large hood duct for downforce, and cooling ducts exiting behind the front fenders. However, the essence of the NSX has been retained, with the fighter jet canopy, ultra-low cowl, and bridge spoiler at the rear. It’s a beautiful take on the ultimate 90s Japanese dream machine.
The car will be built by JAS, who says the goal was “creating an ultra-modern supercar reinterpretation based on the DNA of the first-generation Honda NSX and remaining true to the characteristics that made it an icon.” Pricing and release date have not been announced. It’ll be interesting to see how a rival carrozzeria executes their version when ItalDesign reveals their version of the NSX.
Sadly it takes a donor car away.
I still think the original looks better. I don’t like the modern trend of leaving the bottom of the front end in black instead of in body colour, it makes the car look like it’s missing it’s lower jaw and reduces the “face” to a horror movie effect rather than something with proper proportions.
I like how they did the side intake. It looks like the Koenig Testarossa. Side intake also has Pininfarina badge like the Ferrari F40. Different from existing body kits from Veilside, Liberty Walk, Rocket Bunny, Marga Hills, Mugen, and NSX-R GT.
Looks like a big design compromise by committee instead of a bold refresh. It’s neither a good tribute nor a truly modern take.
This reminds me strongly of what happened when BMW replaced the E34 with the E39. Basically it’s just a bloated version of a perfect design. I’m not saying it ruins it – but it just wasn’t necessary.
As much as I really like the original pop-up headlights NSX, I really like how they designed a modern-ier NSX instead of a new NSX, or their idea of an NSX if it would come out today. Anyone seeing one would instantly recognize it as an OG NSX, but then would notice the modern touches and the curvy italian body.
My nostalgic car is an old driver that will not be worth a restoration, but in my “keeping it on the road plus” treatment, I would love to bring it closer to that kind of treatment.
And to all the naysayers crying the loss of an NSX, at least it is not Rocket-Bunnyed!
I’m not sure if you have posted about this yet, but Honda has launched a Heritage program, mainly for the NSX, but may include other cars in future too. See the official press release, here:
https://global.honda/en/newsroom/news/2025/4251212eng.html