BOLD RIDE
It has been almost seven years since Honda produced the S2000 sports car, and over a decade since the NSX was produced. These were really the last fun cars the company built. Of course, there will be those out there that still cling onto the idea that the Civic is a fun car, but it isn’t truly a sports car (although the new Type R looks promising). One could argue that when it comes to the passion of driving, Honda has lost its way.
The S2000 was the last truly fun affordable car the company produced, and it doesn’t seem as if Honda wants to return to the days of building fun, affordable cars. Or do they?
In just a few days, the Frankfurt Auto Show is set to start, and Honda will debut a new concept that is sure to light a fire under disenfranchised Honda enthusiasts. Dubbed the Honda 2&4 Concept, it boils down to a Honda Ariel Atom-fighter (that said, the Ariel Atom already uses a Honda K24 engine).
According to Left Lane News, the 2&4 Concept was built “using technology gleaned from the company’s efforts in motorsports,” and it’s clear that weight savings was a key issue. The concept weighs in at a staggeringly svelte 900 lbs., and makes use of a mid-mounted 1.0-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 215 horsepower at…wait for it…13,000 RPM!
If Honda were to produce the 2&4 Concept, it would likely be in super-low production numbers, although we’re not sure Honda would even consider putting it into production. The profit margins on a car like this are slim, and Honda has not proven itself anything but risk-averse in the last decade.
Honda desperately needs more performance vehicles. These types of cars not only capture the buying public’s imagination, but also let the company’s engineer’s show off what they can really do. This certainly worked for VW’s engineers with cars like the Audi R8, Bugatti Veyron, and Golf R. Why couldn’t it work here?
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