A 1991 Honda NSX owned by three-time Formula 1 World Champion Ayrton Senna is for sale here in the UK.
Senna was given the car by Honda and kept it in Portugal where he stayed during the European Grand Prix season, and it featured in the film Racing is in my Blood where the Brazilian racing god drove it like he stole it.
The car’s current keeper has owned it for more than a decade. Robert McFagan explains: “I first bought the car in 2013 during a trip to the Algarve in Portugal and have owned it ever since. Being a huge Senna fan myself it’s been a real pleasure owning what is one of the most famous cars belonging to a true sporting legend and the thrill of driving Senna’s car never goes away.”
Senna’s NSX is an early three-litre manual with its VTEC V6 engine producing 271 bhp and 210 lb-ft of torque. That made it good for a 0-60 mph sprint in under six seconds and a top speed of 165 mph. Not rapid by today’s standards, but its inherent lightness, agility and plain ease of use set the supercar bar at the time.
The way the NSX handled was, famously, partly down to Senna himself who did some of the development driving (as you can see in the video above). He was genuinely a fan of the finished product and the red Honda that’s for sale wasn’t Senna’s only NSX. He also had two black examples, one homed in his native Brazil, and the other bought for him by his manager Antonio Braga.
Senna’s NSX has been driven 39,100 miles, at least a few of which were at the Imola circuit in Italy to mark the 25th anniversary of his tragic death.
The opportunity to own what is arguably the best Honda ever made, previously pedalled by arguably the world’s best driver comes at a cost, of course. The car is listed on AutoTrader for a cool £500,000.