One of Ayrton Senna’s Honda NSXs is for sale on Autotrader with a mammoth £500,000 asking price, that’s about seven times the price for a ‘normal’ NSX and is more than six times what this car is believed to have sold for a decade ago.
The Brazilian F1 legend, who had a hand in developing the Japanese junior supercar, was known to own at least three NSXs – this car, a personal one in black in Brazil and another black NSX bought for him by manager Antonio Braga. This red 1991 example was kept at his Portuguese home and has clocked up under 40,000 miles. It was seen in the 1992 documentary Racing in my Blood.
Having received the car as a gift from the McLaren engine supplier, Senna used the Honda for three years before it was returned to the company at the 1993 season at 28,000 miles and then bought by MS Cars on the Algarve, which marked it up for sale some years later for £80,000.
It was bought in 2013 by Brit Robert McFagan who has now put the 271bhp, 165mph supercar up for sale.
Three times world champion Senna was inextricably linked with the groundbreaking Honda, the company having asked him to try out its all-aluminium New Sportscar eXperimental (NSX) prototype between testing sessions at Suzuka. Rather than just sign off the prototype, Senna sent the team back to the drawing board to double chassis rigidity and completely revise the suspension.
East Sussex-based McFagan said: ‘I bought the car in 2013 during a trip to the Algarve in Portugal and have owned it ever since where it has sat proudly at my estate in East Sussex. Senna’s red NSX was given to him by Honda who he had a commercial partnership with and Senna frequently used and was photographed with the car during his stays in Portugal.
‘Being a huge Senna fan myself, I was delighted when I was able to get my hands on the NSX which was crafted to perfection and features a sleek and powerful machine to give an incredible experience on the road. It’s been a real pleasure owning what is one of the most famous cars belonging to a true sporting legend and the thrill of driving Senna’s car never goes away.’
If the half a million pound asking price is a bit steep but you would still like to see the car, the NSX car will be on display at the Senna Exhibition during the Silverstone Festival from 23-25 August.
