There is a massive array of iconic Supercars that spawned from 1980’s. These mostly consisted of outrageous and sexy Italian designed cars from the Lamborghini Countach to the Ferrari Testarossa. True poster cars that admittedly donned the walls of my own bedroom back in the day.

As much as I was in awe of these cars hanging as mere still pictures on a wall, there were few ‘Hero Cars’ in the 1980’s that deserved as much praise as the Honda NSX. It was Japanese, not Italian. It came from a Honda, one of the largest producer of main stream cars and not an Italian performance powerhouse.

Honda first deviated from Motorbike manufacturing and began to build motor cars in 1962. But it wasn’t until the mid-eighties that the company decided that it needed a showcase supercar to lead its range and rival the cars that were being produced by the likes of Ferrari and Porsche. The Japanese certainly had the technology available and work first began on the NSX in 1984. Eventually it was launched in 1989 and production began in 1990. It featured cutting edge lightweight technology and was constructed almost entirely from aluminium. It nailed the ’Supercar’ brief. It was a sleek two door coupe, it was mid-engined and featured a 3.0 litre V6 engine spitting out 270bhp powered by a 5-speed manual transmission. 0-60mph was achieved in 6.5 seconds. It was fast and extremely capable.

You may think to yourself that these are not impressive numbers when you consider that the 2015 Honda Civic Type-R hot hatch features a 4 cylinder 2.0 petrol VTEC boasting 306bhp propelling it from 0-100kmh in just 5.7 seconds, but the NSX was every inch a supercar in 1990. Just check out the video below in how to drive one by none other than the late great Ayrton Senna. Not only is this a masterclass in the best way to squeeze every inch of performance from a car like this but performed in white socks and a pair of shiny loafers.