WHEN JAPAN’S PRECISION MEETS ITALIAN SOUL - THE ITALDESIGN-REIMAGINED HONDA NSX IS... DIFFERENT.
Some cars don’t just age well; they become reference points. Yardsticks, if you must. The original Honda NSX was exactly that, a supercar that rewrote the rulebook by pairing exotic performance with reliability, usability, and a daily-driver heartbeat. Now, more than three decades later, Italdesign has taken that icon and reinterpreted it, not as a retro cosplay exercise, but as a thoughtful, contemporary tribute. The result is the Honda NSX Tribute by Italdesign, recently unveiled to the world at Tokyo Auto Salon 2026. This project didn’t appear out of thin air. Italdesign’s relationship with Japan dates back to 1968, built on a shared philosophy rather than a single contract. Precision. That cultural bridge was strengthened by figures like Hideyuki Miyakawa, who helped establish Italdesign’s reputation in Japan and opened the door to collaborations rooted in trust rather than trend-chasing. That legacy lives on through Italdesign’s teams, who continue to blend Japanese engineering discipline with Italian design clarity - the NSX Tribute is the clearest expression of that dialogue to date.
Officially recognised by Honda, the NSX Tribute by Italdesign is described as a philological homage, which sounds academic until you see the result. Italdesign distilled the NSX’s core values, performance, reliability, and usability, and translated them into a tailor-made, ultra-limited project, handled entirely in-house. Styling, engineering, development, and production all live under the Italdesign roof. As Head of Design Joaquin Garcia puts it, this project looks forward, merging memory with innovation and advanced technology with artisanal craftsmanship, while preserving the original NSX’s racing DNA.
Visually, the NSX Tribute works on two levels: the upper body, finished in Championship White NH0, directly references the legendary NSX-R, unmistakably Honda. Below that, glossy black surfaces introduce a technical, motorsport-driven contrast, grounding the car visually and functionally. The front end subtly mimics the Honda “H” without spelling it out, and the original red NSX-R badge returns to add a spattering of authenticity. The OEM pop-up headlights are gone, replaced by modern “eyelids” integrated into a glossy black surround, giving the car a sharper, more focused expression without losing its identity - while it still looks good, whoever decided to kill the pop-ups needs to be hung, drawn and quartered. The profile shows off sculpted white surfaces above black skirts, arches, and roof, visually lowering the car and emphasising speed. Floating fins along the C-pillars hide air intakes feeding the engine, blending form and function in classic Italdesign fashion. Spoilers, diffusers, skirts, and extractors all work together, not just for numbers, but for balance. The roof-mounted air intake references the ultra-rare NSX-R GT, while the rear spoiler reinterprets the original NSX’s floating ring into a continuous, suspended element that adds stability and elegance in equal measure. The car rolls on split-sized 19 and 20-inch wheels, wrapped in Yokohama tyres, as you’d expect.
The cabin wraps around the driver and passenger with a modern, motorsport-influenced flow. Elements run seamlessly from dashboard to doors, creating a sense of continuity reminiscent of Formula 1 single-seaters. There are the quiet details too, a small helmet on the dashboard, the number and a discreet Honda script as subtle references to Ayrton Senna. IYKYK. The NSX Tribute by Italdesign will be produced in strictly limited numbers, exclusively in right-hand drive, and built through a highly personalised, one-to-one process with each client. We’re keen to see if they will make all the planned cars or if the project will go the way of the Italdesign Nissan GT-R50 that never completed the production run.
Take a look at the YouTube video from the legends in automotive design, Italdesign, as they show us their take on the iconic Honda NSX: Honda NSX Tribute by Italdesign | Italdesign Official
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