The Acura brand began life in North America as Honda's luxury arm, but has developed into a significant entity in its own right now, with sales in China and Japan due to begin shortly and rumours that a move into Europe is also a possibility. At the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, Acura revealed the Advanced Sports Car Concept, which will be of interest to car fans all around the world, as it is being touted as the replacement for the much-loved Honda NSX.

Though Acura's (US-based) designers were given a relatively free hand on the concept, it doesn't look too far-fetched for production, but neither does it draw on the NSX for much inspiration. A long bonnet and all-black glass cockpit are about the only links. The overall appearance is very clean, smooth and contemporary.

From the rear, the show car doesn't have the appearance of a supercar (which is what the NSX was), thanks to the short deck and raked rear window. We overheard a few journalists bemoaning the possibility that the NSX replacement might be more of a GT car than a proper driver's supercar, partly because of the movement of the engine to the front. That's all very well and good, but Honda made little or no money out of the NSX and its replacement will have to.

Countering this was the speech delivered by Takeo Fukui (President and CEO of Honda), which revealed that the successor to the NSX will be powered by a high-revving V10 engine, inspired by the company's Formula One efforts. It will also be rear-wheel drive. That sounds like the recipe for a decent driver's car to me.

We'll be at the Tokyo Show in October this year, where we expect further news.

Shane O' Donoghue - 10 Jan 2007