Categories: Cars

Honda Engineers Want a New S2000. We’re Not Holding Out Hope

Honda introduced the S2000 at the turn of the century, just over 25 years ago. It was a purpose-built convertible sports car that the automaker produced for a decade, and rumors of its return swirled for years, with no new car ever materializing. There are no definitive plans to resurrect the model, but there’s clearly still a lot of love for it within the company.

According to Drive, Tomoyuki Yamagami, the Prelude’s Chief Engineer, recently told Australian media that he’d like to build another S2000 someday. It’s a car that “every Honda employee loves,” and it’s one that if Honda did revive it would be wholly unique to the automaker.

“We know what is expected from Honda [S2000], so what is important for us to keep Honda’s DNA,” Yamagami-san said. It wouldn’t be a joint venture, like the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ. That sounds great from an enthusiast’s perspective, but it would likely make an S2000 successor prohibitively expensive for the average consumer.

The new Prelude, for example, isn’t cheap. Even though Honda uses Civic and Civic Type R components to keep costs down, the automaker has already received feedback that the car is “still too expensive,” Yamagami-san revealed. While Prelude pricing hasn’t been released for the US, many expect the hybrid coupe to cost over $40,000. A new S2000 likely wouldn’t be any better.

Photo by: Honda

When it was new, the base Honda S2000 started at $35,705 in 2009, including the $710 destination fee. That’s $56,709 today, according to the XXX inflation calculator, which would put it in competition with the Nissan Z Heritage Edition, Mustang GT Premium, and Toyota GR Supra.

But right now, Honda engineers only have a desire to build one, with no actual intention. The S2000 entered production in 1999 with a high-revving 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 240 horsepower. There’d be two versions, the AP1 and AP2, with the AP2 getting a larger 2.2-liter engine.

Production would last until 2009, with the automaker producing over 110,000 units, with more than half sold in the United States. The car remains wildly popular today, and one we’d love to see again.