A Honda NSX that belonged to legendary Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna has surfaced for sale on Auto Trader.
Cars with such pedigree are typically sold through the major auction houses, but the car’s current owner, Robert McFagan, wanted to sell it via the popular British classifieds website. It’s listed with a sale price of 500,000 British pounds (approximately $622,000). That’s quite a markup for some ownership provenance, as similar NSXs go for less than $100,000.
McFagan said he picked up the car in 2013 during a trip to Portugal’s Algarve region. The car is one of three examples of the original NSX driven regularly by Senna. It was first registered in 1991 and used by the triple world champion when he was in Portugal. Senna, whose McLaren F1 team at the time was using Honda power units, also drove two additional examples of the NSX. They were both black. One was in Brazil and the other was also in Portugal.
Senna was regularly spotted with the red NSX when he was in Portugal, and the car also featured in the 1992 Senna documentary “Racing Is in My Blood.” It has just 39,100 miles on the clock, and McFagan is thought to be only the second owner.
The original NSX, which like the last NSX was marketed in the U.S. as an Acura, has a deeper connection with Senna than just his company car. During the development, Honda turned inward to its motorsports program for tuning strategies. Senna was part of that program and lent many hours of his time so the NSX would become the fantastic driving machine it proved to be.
He convinced the engineers to further stiffen the chassis, relayed his feedback with regard to the suspension tuning, and pushed the car hard at a number of tracks, including the Nürburgring. It’s safe to say, Senna is part of the reason why the original NSX was so good.
Now you can purchase an example that was owned and driven by the man himself. This is a rare opportunity, for fans of the original NSX and motorsports alike, but it comes at a hefty price.
HIGH-RES GALLERY: 1991 Honda NSX once owned by Ayrton Senna – Photo credit: Robert McFagan/Auto Trader
This article was originally published by Motor Authority, an editorial partner of ClassicCars.com
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