It's funny. Last year, it seemed like every second week was kicked off with a story of a vintage Porsche or Australian muscle car selling for stupendous world-record pricing. But in 2018, the tables have seemingly turned, and the pricing for clean Japanese cars of the '80s, '90s, and '00s are what's dominating headlines.
Most recently, the tale of an original American-spec 1997 Acura (ahem, Honda) Integra Type R DC2 selling for almost NZD$100,000 swept the world. It was a weird story, not just because of the huge figure and the cult-classic car — but also because it assumed that someone in the US had the foresight back in 1997 to predict that the Integra Type R would be worth big money one day if it were kept in museum-like condition.
Click here to read more about the $100,000 Honda Integra Type R
In some ways, it was just a matter of time before the next incredibly mint Honda performance car sold for big money in the US. And so here we are.
This AP1-generation 2000 Honda S2000 recently went up for sale on US-based collector auction website Bring a Trailer. Dipped in Formula Red paint and lined with black leather, it rolls on (admittedly questionable) 16-inch chrome factory wheels. Under the bonnet is Honda's sidewards, 9,000rpm-ish F20C VTEC inline four-cylinder engine — a unit that created 178kW at 8,300rpm when new.
But most crucially of all, this example has just 1001 miles (1610km) on the clock. And, from every single viewpoint, it is effectively a brand new car.
The S2000 was a relatively special and well received thing in this part of the world when it came out. But in the US, it quickly became the subject of total fandom. Like the Toyota Supra and Nissan Skyline of the time, it was sucked into the hype vortex created by the Fast & Furious film franchise and gaming titles like Gran Turismo.
But the S2000 also had an extra wave of fandom, spurred on by the fact that it was one of the few 'fast Hondas' that made it to the US. The 'Land of the Free' has long been barred from importing cars like the Civic Type R, so the S2000, NSX, and the DC2–DC4 generation Integra Type R were really all they had until the current Civic Type R landed last year.
Combine all of those elements together, and it's almost sane to think that this pristine S2000 sold at auction this week for USD$48,000 — or NZD$71,025.
The curious thing with these kinds of cars is always the timeline in which they've lived. Unlike some other obsessively hoarded mint classics, this S2000 was actually retained by a Honda dealership. For a while, anyway.
"It was delivered new to Blair Honda in Altoona, Pennsylvania with 12 miles and subsequently stored by the principle of the dealership as a part of a collection," said Bring a Trailer.
"The car was first registered in 2013 following the sale of the dealership, and the owner then added approximately 988 miles prior to the selling dealer’s recent acquisition."
Along with beautiful paint and satisfyingly crease-free leather, the minter S2000 also comes with original manuals, price sheets, and all of the manufacturer's original safety stickers. The ones that normally get binned the moment the buyer signs on the dotted line.
The attention to detail is immense, and in some ways it'd be nice to know that this little Honda is likely to spend plenty more of its days covered up quietly.
Although on the other hand, it's also nice to know that the S2000's buyer was none other than IndyCar Series ace Graham Rahal. The popular racer tweeted confirmation that he was the new owner of the red convertible, which gives us hope that this little Honda has some fun days of hoonage ahead.
