If you need any more evidence that the used car market has gone nuts, look no further than this first-generation Acura NSX. Found at the bottom of a river after 20 years, it allegedly sold for $8,500.
To say that this car has had a hard life is to put it mildly. According to Becca Nicole Johnson, an enthusiast who spoke to the LSX Salvage junkyard selling the car and posted about it on Facebook, the NSX was found by accident in 2019 while divers were looking for a vehicle involved in another crime.
After it was pulled out of the water, it was discovered that the car had been missing since the ’90s, when it was stolen. At the time, the authorities presumed that the car was in the Yadkin River in North Carolina.
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That’s a fascinating story and all, but the result is a car that even the seller (a person who is incentivized to make the car seem as good as possible) said that it was too far gone to be restored.
In addition to the overall condition, the engine is missing, the windows are broken, the interior has become a very modern and eco-friendly garden, the rear parcel shelf is filled with dirt, the A-pillar appears to be—to use a technical term—borked, and, at a glance, the front brake calipers appear now to be made of dust. It does have just 39,000 miles (62,764 km) on the odometer, though.
Even Johnson joked that she wanted it as a lawn ornament, while the seller suggested that it could make a possible go-kart build. And yet, hope springs eternal, because a bidding frenzy started. Initially posted for sale at $6,000, it reportedly sold for $8,500.
Taylor Hughes of Randleman, North Carolina (who appears to work for the salvage yard selling the car), also posted about the car yesterday, saying the car had sold after a bidding war. The car was allegedly sold to someone in Maryland, who will apparently be trying to restore it, though we are working to confirm the details of the story.
For now, though, this wreck of a car serves to confirm that the first-generation NSX is well and truly a classic, because of the lengths people will go (and the prices people will pay) to get their hands on one. We’re still looking into the story and will give you an update once we hear back from all the parties involved.