2001 HONDA S2000 Convertible

Background

Honda’s very first four-wheeler (that wasn’t a Formula One car) was a pickup truck. A pickup truck with a mid-mounted, 9,500 rpm, twin-cam, quad-carb four-cylinder displacing only 360cc. Their second four-wheeler, released four months later in 1963, was a two-seat convertible with a 500cc version of the same engine.

Called the S500, this little gem of a roadster demonstrated that Honda automobiles were just as sophisticated and capable as their world-changing sports bikes, while setting the stage for four generations of spectacular, high-revving S-cars.

The Vehicle

The auction car is an early, all-stock, all-original, 5,821-mile example from the S2000’s second full model year. It was purchased new by the seller’s husband and has always been garaged when not in use.

These wonderful pre-facelift models have the purest looks, and offer a full, undiluted 9,000 rpm aural assault - post-facelift North American spec cars sacrificed 800 revs for a small gain in torque.

On the Outside

Silver over stock 16” staggered-width wheels (6.5” front, 7.5” rear) is the classic look for these cars, enhanced further here by hard-to-find stock ride height. The soft top folds and erects as designed and shows very little evidence of use or age. All panels and paint are factory original.

On the Inside

The car retains the same desirable stock look inside, with simple but attractive and supportive black leather covered seats.

A wide horizontal digital tachometer makes a real event of the 9,000 rpm redline, and the central, aluminum knob-topped lever grants access to one of the all-time great gear shifts - short, precise, smooth, slick, and positive, it’s a transmission fully deserving of the old cliché “feels like a rifle bolt.”

Underneath

Power comes from Honda’s brilliant F20C, a 2.0 liter twin-cam VTEC four delivering 240 hp well north of 8,000 rpm.

At 120 hp-per-liter, this engine made more power for its displacement than any other naturally aspirated design in the world when new, a crown Honda retained for nearly a decade until snatched by Ferrari’s 458 Italia in 2009, and then only by the smallest of margins.

In classical Honda tradition, the car is suspended at each corner by elegant and highly effective double-wishbones.

History Highlights

The car is sold with complete maintenance history from new.

What We Think

Among the most desirable and fun-to-drive modern Japanese performance icons, early S2000’s embody the same purity of engineering seen in the first-generation NSX - suitably, the two were partially hand-built alongside each other at Honda’s special Tochigi plant.

This one’s rare, unmolested condition and low mileage make it particularly desirable.

Estimated $30,000 - $35,000.