Honda Europe’s vice president Tom Gardner has hinted at the possibility of another sports car being unveiled later this year for the brand’s 75th anniversary.
The latest Honda Civic Type R has highlighted that while performance cars have taken a back seat in the brand’s list of priorities, the demand for Honda-badged performance cars is still in demand. Honda Europe’s vice president told Autocar in a recent interview that introducing a new performance-orientated model may be on the table as the brand celebrates its 75th anniversary, but no confirmation on whether it is a revitalization of a previous title or a completely new model.
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“And we love a sports car. We love the performance, and we’re very grateful for the strong reaction we’ve had to the latest Type R. There is a huge demand for it, and the performance has been very well appreciated. We enjoyed seeing it nail the Nürburgring record in the last month, and that is an important part of our brand” — Tom Gardner, Honda Europe vice president
While nothing has been set in stone, a modern S2000 has been lusted after for many years by consumers and even key figures in the industry like previous Honda CEO, Takahiro Hachigo, who openly expressed an interest to develop a successor to the 90’s soft-top sports car. The Honda S2000 is composed of a slew of enthusiast-pleasing features, such as its naturally-aspirated F20C engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission or the rear-wheel-drive platform.
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“All over the world – in Japan, North America, Europe, China – more and more voices are expressing the desire to reinvent S2000. However, it has not matured yet. It’s not time yet. We need time to decide if S2000 is reinvented or not. If the salespeople investigate, look at it and they’re enthusiastic, maybe we look at it.” — Tom Gardner, Honda Europe vice president
Also read: Rumour or real thing? New Honda S2000 tipped
Did you know? Prior to the Ferrari 458, the Honda S2000 had the highest specific power output per litre of any mass production, naturally aspirated engined car – find one to buy with CARmag here.
