We just got our hands on pictures of a mystery Honda being unloaded from a transport truck in California. Although it’s clearly a concept—production cars in our experience come with roofs—it looks an awful lot like something that might eventually become the Honda ZSX, sometimes known as the baby NSX.
First and foremost, this just looks like a little NSX. The pointy features and the aerodynamism are all pure NSX. The tiny frontal area also suggests that this is a mid-engine car.
Then there’s the more circumstantial evidence of its location. Our spy photographer found this concept hanging around California, which a quick look at my Atlas tells me is in America. The very same America where the NSX was developed. The same America whose Honda office is reportedly advocating for a small sports car project.
SEE MORE: Honda Trademarks ZSX, Could End Up on Baby NSX
So if we accept that Honda is looking to build a baby NSX—and a trademark application suggests they are—Ohio, where the not-baby-NSX was developed, would be a perfect place to start. Especially if you consider that its probable engine, the 2.0-liter I4 that propels the Civic Type-R also comes from Ohio.
All very exciting to be sure, but there are a few details that cast some doubt onto this all. Details like the Honda badges. A baby NSX would surely be branded as an Acura in America. Seeing as how this is a roofless car, you could see that as a sign that this will instead be a followup to the much loved S2000. You could. Really. No one’s stopping you.
Or you could take that as a sign that this is just a design study. Whatever the case, this thing looks cool. And with the New York Auto Show coming in April, we can’t help but hope that all the mystery surrounding this concept will be cleared up then.
