Swansong Honda NSX Type S teased

UPDATED 03/08/2021 6:00pm: Sadly, Honda Australia has advised that no examples of the 2022 Honda NSX Type S will become available Down Under.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE PUBLISHED 03/08/2021 2:00pm: The second-generation Honda NSX will bow out of production at the end of 2022, but not before a swansong Type S limited-edition brings “enhancements to performance and design”, Honda has confirmed today.

Limited to just 350 units globally – 320 of them outside of Japan – the 2022 Honda NSX Type S will be the final version of the hybrid Japanese supercar produced, in December 2022.

The 2022 Honda NSX Type S, a rear-end teaser image of which was also revealed today, will make its global debut at the annual Monterey Car Week in California on August 12 (US time).

There’s no word yet on whether the Type S, which will wear a new matte paint colour, will be offered in Australia. We’ve contacted Honda Australia for comment.

Although Honda hasn’t released any specifics, it claims the Type S will deliver more power, faster acceleration and sharper handling, culminating in a “more emotional driving experience”.

“The new NSX Type S will be the final model of the second-generation NSX, and the development team pursued enhancements to performance and design with the goal to create a model that goes beyond all NSX models that came before,” said Honda.

“The history of the second-generation NSX will conclude in December 2022 when the final NSX Type S is produced.

“The NSX Type S is the culmination of the challenges Honda took on for the second-generation NSX, and it is a special model Honda developed as an expression of gratitude toward customers who have loved NSX to date.

“The development team pursued the further improvement of driving performance and the sharp and beautiful presence and strived to offer the ‘joy of driving’ and ‘joy of driving a vehicle at the will of the driver’ as well as the ‘joy of owning’ a special vehicle.”

Powered by an otherworldly 427kW/646Nm V6 all-wheel drive powertrain with three electric motors, the second-generation Honda NSX was launched in August 2016.

But NSX sales have hardly been world-beating. Just 10 examples of the second-generation NSX came to Australia before it was axed from the line-up about 12 months ago, including a pre-production market evaluation vehicle that will be retained by Honda plus nine customer cars (two in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively, and three in 2019) priced at $420,000 apiece.

In confirming the NSX’s demise, Honda offered a small glimmer of hope for its sports car fans.

In the same release, the Japanese car-maker fuelled speculation it is working on an all-electric baby supercar as it works towards a carbon-neutral future.

“In the future, Honda will continue to take on new challenges to continue offing [sic] the ‘joy of driving’ to its customers with electrified and new-value mobility products yet to be created,” the statement said.