{"id":78783,"date":"2025-08-13T04:06:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T04:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/78783\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T04:06:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T04:06:13","slug":"acura-wants-to-know-if-youre-interested-in-buying-the-weird-nsx-roadster-from-the-avengers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/78783\/","title":{"rendered":"Acura Wants To Know If You’re Interested In Buying The Weird NSX Roadster From ‘The Avengers’"},"content":{"rendered":"

While movie cars often get instant celebrity status, many simply don\u2019t make it out of the studios. From liability concerns to the way that many units are run hard and put away wet, the life of a picture car often isn\u2019t glamorous. Every so often, however, one survives. Remember the Acura NSX Roadster that Tony Stark drove in \u201cThe Avengers\u201d? Turns out it\u2019s actually still around, and Acura is in the process of soft-launching the idea of auctioning it off to a private collector.<\/p>\n

Hang on a second\u2014\u201dThe Avengers\u201d hit the silver screens in 2012, but the production-spec hybrid NSX wasn\u2019t ready to be unveiled until 2015, so what\u2019s underneath the concept car coachwork? Well, it is an NSX, just not a modern NSX.<\/p>\n

\"Vidframe<\/p>\n

\"Vidframe<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to forget that between 10 and 15 years ago, high-mileage examples of the original NSX were cheap. Like, sometimes less than $30,000 cheap. Our own Steve Balistreri once scored an NSX for $25,000, and it wasn\u2019t some clapped-out, rebuilt-title thing, but instead a perfectly good driver-condition car<\/a>. Given the values at the time, it shouldn\u2019t be surprising that Acura decided the perfect base for this movie car was a\u00a01991 NSX with a whopping 252,000 miles on the clock.<\/p>\n

\"StarkGIF via screen capture, Paramount Pictures\/Marvel Entertainment
\n\"AcuraPhoto credit: Acura<\/p>\n

Once a donor car was selected, Trans FX in Oxnard, Calif. set about stripping off the body panels, cutting off the roof, and crafting a fiberglass body in the spirit of the 2012 NSX show car, just topless. Sure, a few alterations were necessary to fit the proportions of the NA1 NSX and accommodate for rooflessness, the headlights are dummy pieces, and the custom car itself bears merely a passing resemblance to the eventual production-spec model, but the end result is convincing enough for Hollywood.<\/p>\n

\"AcuraPhoto credit: Acura<\/p>\n

A two-inch drop has it sitting low on 18-inch wheels that look huge on what are fundamentally \u201990s proportions, the merlot paint still has gleam to its flop, and yes, this NSX dressed up as another NSX has a five-speed manual transmission. As for the interior, it\u2019s pretty much like 1991 in there, save for the addition of aftermarket seats.Hey, when you don\u2019t need dashboard shots, why change what works?<\/p>\n

\"AcuraPhoto credit: Acura<\/p>\n

While the NSX Roadster had to be operable for the film, it wasn\u2019t a stunt car, so it wasn\u2019t beat on. Nor was it made to be, which might make this the slowest running and driving NSX in history. See, Edmunds<\/a> got a chance to drive it back in 2012, and noted that it came with a serious limitation.<\/p>\n

In deference to the Stark NSX\u2019s compromised structure, that it was engineered to run only up to 30 mph, and its near-future life as a promotional item for the film, Acura asks that we keep our driving speed to under 20 mph. Since it\u2019s Acura\u2019s car, its PR guy is standing right there and there\u2019s a severe vibration in the structure, we oblige. So what we can say is that, up to about 20 mph, the Stark NSX feels and drives like the NSX that it is.<\/p>\n

Ah, there lies the rub. Even though the NSX was available with a targa top, cutting the roll bar off comes with consequences that effectively render this cinema one-off a low-speed showpiece. It should be able to idle around a car show staging area just fine, but even though it\u2019s essentially a production car under the shiny surface, it\u2019s not really meant for the street.<\/p>\n

\"AcuraPhoto credit: Acura<\/p>\n

Perhaps that\u2019s why Acura is looking for interested bidders at Monterey Car Week\u2019s most exclusive event, The Quail. It\u2019ll make a fabulous addition to the brand\u2019s display, but it\u2019s best suited to someone who already has an NSX or three that they can use spiritedly. Still, if you\u2019re interested in checking it out and were lucky enough to secure tickets to The Quail, head on down to Monterey Car Week. Maybe you\u2019ll even run into some of my colleagues along the way.<\/p>\n

Top graphic images: Acura; Paramount Pictures\/Marvel Entertainment<\/p>\n

Support our mission of championing car culture by\u00a0becoming an Official Autopian Member<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While movie cars often get instant celebrity status, many simply don\u2019t make it out of the studios. From…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[55547,55548,55549,55550,55551,55552,55553,55554,55555,9848,74,35626],"class_list":["post-78783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-acura","tag-acura-nsx","tag-acura-nsx-roadster","tag-iron-man","tag-monterey-car-week","tag-movie-cars","tag-nsx","tag-nsx-roadster","tag-pebble-beach","tag-supercars","tag-technology","tag-the-avengers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}