Ayrton Senna’s Honda NSX could set records

Ayrton Senna is best known for his three Formula 1 Driver’s Championship titles, but his image is also closely tied to the Honda NSX sports car of the early 1990s.

While Senna helped develop the mid-engined V6 sports car, he was famously filmed driving one around Suzuka in loafers, before being loaned another example by Honda’s Portuguese division throughout 1991, and now that latter car is for sale once more.

Recognisable with its Formula Red paintwork and black roof, the NSX became Senna’s to use when he was in Portugal, notably driving it to that year’s Grand Prix at Estoril (below), while the car itself became an icon after featuring in the 1992 documentary, ‘Ayrton Senna: Racing Is In My Blood’.

After living the majority of its life in Europe under multiple owners, the NSX later found its home in the UK in 2012, where its then-owner subsequently took it on a road trip to Imola in 2019 to mark 25 years since Senna’s passing, an occasion which also saw Minardi F1 team founder and circuit boss Giancarlo Minardi drive the sports car.

It was most recently sold in 2024, having been listed on the UK’s AutoTrader for £500,000, purchased by a Japanese owner, though it has now returned to the UK, where it is being offered for sale by RM Sotheby’s at The London Auction on October 31.

The auction house has provided a price guide of £500,000 (A$945,000) to £800,000 ($1.51 million), with the latter figure being close to the record auction price for an NSX, with the current record held by a 2003 NSX-R, which sold for €934,375 (£800,965/A$1.51m) last year.