Stolen Honda NSX recovered after 16 years in a river sold for astonishing sum

Ran when parked … underwater. Is $13,000 too much for a Honda NSX supercar stolen and dumped at the bottom of a river for 16 years?

A 1991 Honda NSX supercar stolen and left at the bottom of a river for 16 years has sold for approximately $AU13,000 ($US8500) – or less than a tenth of the price of a working, pristine example.

As reported by US publisher The Drive, the car – with 32,000 miles on the odometer (51,500km) – was reportedly stolen in 2003 and dumped in the Yadkin River in the US state of North Carolina.

According to the report, the car was discovered accidentally in 2019 when the local fire department was searching for a missing person in the area.

For the past four years, the black NSX sat in the towing company’s holding yard before it was purchased by a salvage company, which has shared some images of the stricken Honda.

The images reportedly piqued the interest of a Honda NSX specialist in the state of Maryland – near Washington DC – who is said to have arranged to purchase the car, as is, for a shockingly high sum.

The $US8500 sale price is a fraction of the $US100,000 ($AU150,000) that low-mileage, good-condition examples have sold for.

For the 1991 model year, a total of 1940 NSX examples were sold in the US – priced from $US62,000 (or $AU159,900 plus on-road costs in Australia).

The mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive Honda NSX was launched to huge acclaim in 1990.

Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna had a hand in the car’s final development and engineering, creating what would become the first mass-produced car to feature an all-aluminium body.

Powered by a 3.0-litre aluminium V6, the NSX quoted outputs of 201kW/284Nm, and had a 42:58 front-to-rear weight distribution with a 1351kg kerb weight.

How a restoration of this car, with untold mechanical and significant cosmetic damage, will financially benefit the new owner remains to be seen.

The NSX was a significant car in its time, and reportedly served as an inspiration for the iconic McLaren F1.

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