The one-of-one open-roof Acura NSX Roadster that Robert Downey Jr. drives as Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, for about two seconds of screen time in the 2012 movie The Avengers, is resurfacing at this year’s Monterey Car Week. As you may recall, the second-gen NSX didn’t really exist until 2016, so picture-car producers had to get creative mocking up this drivable prop based on the 2012 NSX concept. Acura shared some details about it and a nice batch of studio photos to hype up a charity auction it’s planning for next year.
“As a project vehicle, the Acura NSX Roadster was built by Trans FX in Oxnard, California,” Acura shared in a press release. “The hand-crafted resin and fiberglass body was fitted to a first-generation NSX along with a 2-inch suspension drop, 18-inch wheels, and aftermarket seats. A well-used 1991 model with 252,000 miles on the odometer served as the foundation for the transformation.” It was designed by a team at the Acura Design Studio in Los Angeles led by Dave Marek, Acura’s creative director at the time. The car “remains exactly as it appeared on screen 13 years ago … featuring the ‘Stark 33’ license plate.”
It’s pretty funny to see the second-gen body (kind of) with the first-gen interior. And I’m surprised to notice the movie car appears to be a manual!
The open-top NSX made a brief appearance at the end of the movie, when all the heroes peel out in their respective vehicles after defeating Loki, who’s the bad guy in that one. RDJ also drove it in real life at the movie’s premiere in LA. Finding a clip of that red carpet party reminded me that Acura placements were all over that movie. The good guys have a whole motor pool of matte black MDX SUVs and TL sedans with orange lights. I think quite a few get blown up in the opening base-explosion sequence.
As for the concept’s sale details, the automaker “will begin accepting hand raisers at Monterey Car Week for those interested in getting a chance to bid on the Acura NSX Roadster next year.” Seems a little early to be hyping up a sale, but I guess it tracks given how long it took Acura to take the real gen-two NSX from concept to reality.
I guess this concept could be fun to own—since it sounds like it’s basically just a fiberglass body kit on an old NSX, you could probably keep it running a lot more easily than most movie cars. And an open-top NSX is cool regardless of celebrity status.
The Avengers was good, too. I kind of ran out of steam on Marvel after Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok (forever the peak, if you ask me), but I remember the Avengers flick this car was in as one of the better ones. It was the first big multi-star assembly, and high-production comic book movies still felt somewhat novel back in 2012. I wonder how well the movie holds up today. Looks like the car has been kept pretty clean for all these years!
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