Honda NSX gets tasty Italian restomod makeover

The iconic first-generation Honda NSX has been reimagined through a collaboration between two Italian automotive powerhouses, bringing a modern, motorsport-inspired twist to a legendary Japanese sports car.

Developed by JAS Motorsport – an Italian racing team and engineering company – and designed by Pininfarina, the Tensei is a modern interpretation of the NSX intended to stay close to its original formula, albeit with more power and a lighter body made entirely of carbon fibre.

With a working development prototype currently being built, the Tensei will eventually enter “ultra-limited series production” in Milan, Italy, as JAS Motorsport’s first high-performance road car next year.

Full details are yet to be revealed, though the production model’s first public unveiling is slated for the first half of 2026.

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The Tensei started life as a production NSX from the “early 1990s”, with the donor car chosen for its “chassis and mechanical base”. Its body was entirely reconstructed from carbon fibre, with Pininfarina injecting a handful of modern design cues like LED daytime running lights, exposed carbon elements, and a full-width rear LED light bar.

Mechanically, JAS opted for an “original NSX-inspired” engine and will therefore fit a naturally aspirated V6, though power and torque figures are yet to be confirmed. The company says the engine will be re-engineered and developed to “obtain the highest levels of power, torque and responsiveness”, expected to translate to much wilder performance than the original car.

This will be mated to a six-speed manual transmission and will almost certainly feature a rear-wheel drive layout, with examples to be available in either left- or right-hand drive.

No images of the car’s interior have been published, though it will also be restyled by Pininfarina.

‘Tensei’ means ‘reincarnation’ in Japanese, with the name chosen to reflect the project’s intent to preserve Honda’s original philosophy for the NSX, quoted as: “A car functions through a direct connection with the driver and passenger. Its quality is determined by whether or not it inspires enthusiasm in the driver.”

JAS Motorsport is arguably the ideal company to get such a project off the ground. With its racing team founded in 1995 to compete on behalf of Alfa Romeo, JAS became an official Honda partner in 1998 and has competed in various disciplines exclusively for the Japanese brand ever since.

The original 1991 NSX was available with a rear-mid-mounted 3.0-litre naturally aspirated V6 engine producing 201kW of power and 285Nm of torque, mated with either a four-speed automatic or five-speed manual transmission. A more powerful 3.2-litre V6 was added in 1997, alongside a six-speed manual.

Pininfarina had actually been involved in the development of the original car. In 1984, Honda commissioned the styling house to design the HP-X, a concept car intended to evaluate the feasibility of a pure Honda sports car, which eventually evolved into the first NSX.

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