The Honda HSC (Honda Sports Concept) is a
concept
Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs.
They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by s ...
sports car
A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...
that was initially unveiled at the 2003
Tokyo Motor Show
The is a biennial auto show held in October–November at the Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan for cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles. Hosted by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), it is a recognized international show by ...
.
Most of the automotive media immediately speculated that it was designed to be a replacement for the
Honda NSX
The Honda NSX, marketed in North America as the Acura NSX, is a two-seat, mid-engined coupe sports car manufactured by Honda.
The origins of the NSX trace back to 1984, with the HP-X (Honda Pininfarina eXperimental) concept, which was a mid-eng ...
, although this was never confirmed by Honda. It was also branded as an
Acura
Acura is the luxury vehicle, luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America. The brand was launched in the United States and Canada on March 27, 1986, marketing luxury and performance automobiles. It ...
.
The HSC featured a lightweight, mid-mounted
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...
i-VTEC
VTEC (Variable Valve Timing & Lift Electronic Control) is a system developed by Honda to improve the volumetric efficiency of a four-stroke internal combustion engine, resulting in higher performance at high RPM, and lower fuel consumption at low ...
V6 engine
A V6 engine is a six-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
The first V6 engines were designed and produced independently by Marmon Motor Car Company, Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik ...
with a 6-speed transmission controlled by either an F1-style paddle shifter on the steering wheel or a unique dial shifter on the center console. When shifted into reverse, the navigation system's adjustable flat-panel screen in the center console becomes a display for a rear-mounted camera. Abundant leather and aluminum trim pieces round out the interior, an all-aluminum frame with
carbon fibre
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
body panels keep it light, and swan doors affirm its sports car status.
The development of this car into a production sports car appeared to stall
for two years. However, the July 2005 announcement by Honda CEO
Takeo Fukui is the former president and CEO of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. He is from Tokyo, Japan, though his mother gave birth to him in Hiroshima to escape intensifying air raids during World War II. He graduated from Waseda University with a bachelor's degre ...
indicated the HSC was only a test concept for a pure sports car.
In 2009, a road car version of the
Honda HSV-010 GT
The Honda HSV-010 GT (an abbreviation for ''Honda Sports Velocity'') is a grand touring race car manufactured and designed by Honda. The HSV-010 GT served as the successor to the first generation Honda NSX-GT and competed in the Japanese Super G ...
was seen, with some visual similarities with the HSC. It was also assumed to be a replacement to the NSX, although there is no official confirmation of this. In 2013, Honda unveiled the
next generation NSX concept car, that replaced the HSV-010 in the
Super GT
Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...
GT500 class.
References
External links
Honda HSC: The Nearly-NSX
HSC
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