Lots of early Honda NSXs get described as “Senna-approved.” Only one is the Formula Red car he was photographed washing with a garden hose, in jeans and a button-down shirt. That car, chassis JHMNA11500T000233, crosses the block at RM Sotheby’s London sale on 31 October with a published estimate of £500,000 to £800,000.
That’s a lot of money for a car that, without its history, is a 1991 coupe with a black roof and black leather. Bidders aren’t paying for the car itself. They’re paying for the history attached to it.
Read the fine print on “Senna’s car”
According to the auction listing, Honda Automobil de Portugal imported the car and registered it on 22 March 1991 as SX-25-59. It was stored in Lisbon and delivered to Senna whenever he arrived in the country. Honda’s agreement gave him access to three NSXs for personal use: two black cars and this red one.
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The wording matters. This wasn’t a car Senna walked into a showroom and bought. Honda supplied it under his contract, and it was registered through the importer. That makes the provenance depend on documents, not on a name in a logbook. The lot comes with its warranty book, Portuguese ownership records, and a copy of a Honda fax confirming the Senna link. RM says Honda Motor Europe has since reaffirmed that confirmation.
The car’s best-known moments are well documented. Senna drove it to Estoril for the 1991 Portuguese Grand Prix, where he qualified third and finished second. It also appears in the 1992 documentary Ayrton Senna: Racing Is In My Blood, with Senna dumping the clutch for the camera.
Thirty years of owners
The ownership history after 1994 is unusually complete. A Lisbon registry certificate shows the car registered in February 1995 to Laboa Etablissement. Honda’s Portuguese dealer Nipomotor was looking after it by September 1997. It then went to the owner of a Faro dealership in 2009 and to Robert McFagan in 2013. McFagan shipped it to Britain and registered it for road use in May 2016.
In 2019 it returned to Imola for the 25th anniversary of Senna’s death, with Giancarlo Minardi driving. The current consignor bought it in Nagoya in 2024.
Why Senna matters to this model
Senna’s link to the NSX goes beyond fame. RM recounts that during prototype testing he called the chassis “a little fragile.” Honda responded by stiffening the structure by 50 percent and retuning the suspension.
The engine in this car is the original C30A. Honda’s own spec sheet lists 2,977cc, a 90 x 78mm bore and stroke, a 10.2:1 compression ratio, and 280 PS at 7,300rpm for the 1990 manual car. The intake uses a resonance chamber with a shutter valve that opens around 4,800rpm to boost top-end breathing.
There’s a practical point for whoever buys it. The C30A’s cams are belt-driven, and rubber belts age even when the car sits still. A low-use collector NSX still needs its belt serviced on schedule. Ignoring that because the odometer barely moves is how a £700,000 car ends up with bent valves.
The tax question
The listing’s addendum has two details that matter more than the photo gallery. The vehicle is titled as 2025, which any buyer should ask about before registering it. And the car entered the UK on a temporary import bond. The winner must either export it under proper customs paperwork or pay VAT and import duty to keep it in Britain.
That’s where HMRC’s rules come in. Qualifying collectors’ items are valued at 25 percent of their normal value at import, which HMRC guidance says produces an effective VAT rate of 5 percent. Eligible vehicles must be in original condition and either at least 30 years old or no longer in production. They should also be scarce and high-value, not normally used for their original purpose, and sold outside normal used-car trade. HMRC also lists direct association with historical figures as a factor in historical significance.
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The difference is large. At the midpoint estimate, 5 percent works out to about £32,500. The standard 20 percent rate would be about £130,000. HMRC recommends asking its Tariff Classification Service before buying, and at this price a buyer should.
The bottom line
If this car sells near the top estimate, the buyer is paying many times what a clean early NSX costs today. What they get for the difference is a famous photograph, an Estoril commute, documentary footage, and a fax from Honda. For this car, the paperwork is worth more than the car.
Images Via: RM Sotheby’s
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