1991 Honda NSX | RM Sotheby's | The London Auction

To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION at RM Sothebys' The London Auction event, 31 October 2026.
£500,000 - £800,000 GBP

• Retained by three-time Formula 1 Drivers' World Champion Ayrton Senna for personal use in Portugal
• The famous ‘hosepipe’ car; featured in the Ayrton Senna: Racing Is In My Blood documentary and driven by Senna to the 1991 Portuguese Grand Prix
• Configured in Formula Red with a contrasting black roof over a black leather interior
• Supplied with warranty book, Portuguese ownership history documentation, and a copy of the Honda fax confirming the car’s Senna provenance

White socks, brown loafers, perfect heel-and-toe downshifts, and a speedometer needle that was off the dial around the Suzuka circuit. If you think of Ayrton Senna behind the wheel of anything other than a Grand Prix car, you think of him behind the wheel of the Honda NSX.

The three-time Formula 1 Driver’s World Champion began cultivating his relationship with Honda in 1987. The Japanese marque replaced Renault in supplying the turbocharged 1.5-litre V-6 for Team Lotus, and Senna expertly deployed the circa 1,000 horsepower to end the year with two wins and 3rd place in the points. That paved the way for the Brazilian to sign for McLaren, now also powered by Honda, in 1988. He vanquished incumbent team-mate Alain Prost to clinch his first Driver’s title that season aboard the utterly dominant MP4-4.

Meanwhile, away from the F1 paddock, Senna famously played a part in the evolution of Honda’s “New Sportscar Experimental”, as the firm sought to rival Ferrari and Porsche by creating a performance car that really could be driven and enjoyed every day. While testing the prototype, Senna judged the chassis to be "a little fragile". His precise feedback prompted Honda to stiffen the frame by 50 per cent and refine the suspension tuning.

Come the start of 1991, Senna already counted two F1 Driver’s crowns and was about to embark on a campaign that would yield his third. As a small token of gratitude, per an agreement between Honda Motor Company and the driver, Honda would provide three NSXs to which Senna had access for personal use. Alongside a pair of black cars, there was chassis number T000233 offered here. Configured in Formula Red with a contrasting black roof over a black leather interior, it was imported by Honda Automobil de Portugal and registered on 22 March 1991 with the number “SX-25-59”. The NSX was stored in Lisbon and delivered to Senna every time he arrived in the country.

Senna clearly made good use of the car during the European leg of the 1991 season—the F1 icon having bought a property in the Quinta do Lago resort. He commuted to the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril, a race for which he would qualify 3rd and finish 2nd, aboard chassis T000233 and it would feature in the 1992 documentary Ayrton Senna: Racing Is In My Blood, with Senna dumping the clutch and spinning up the rear wheels on camera. Perhaps most famously for “SX-25-59”, Senna was pictured in jeans and a buttoned-down shirt washing the car with a hosepipe.

Ten months after Senna was killed at Imola, according to the accompanying certificate of records issued by the Lisbon Automobile Registry Office, the car was registered in the Portuguese capital city in February 1995 by Laboa Etablissement. A fax from Honda confirming this car’s Senna provenance, which has been reaffirmed by Honda Motor Europe, further notes that the NSX was under the care of its own dealership, Nipomotor, come September 1997. It was next bought by the owner of MSCAR Comércio de Automóveis SA, based in the Algarve city of Faro in November 2009, prior to being purchased by Mr Robert McFagan in 2013. He had the car freighted to the United Kingdom, where it was registered for use on the road in May 2016. The car subsequently returned to its home country, having been acquired in 2024 by the consigning owner in Nagoya, Japan, but has returned to the UK to be offered for sale by RM Sotheby’s at The London Auction.

The NSX made a poignant visit to Imola in 2019, marking 25th years since Senna’s fatal crash at the Italian venue, with Minardi F1 team founder and circuit boss Giancarlo Minardi in the driver’s seat. On the 30th anniversary, the Honda featured at the Silverstone Festival race meeting in August 2024. Lined up on the Hamilton Straight with 11 F1 cars, plus significant junior single-seaters, karts, motorbikes, and rally cars from throughout Senna’s life, the NSX formed part of the biggest vehicular tribute to the Brazilian ever ensembled.

No road car model is more associated with the life of F1 legend Ayrton Senna than the NSX. But the proposition of owning an example that Honda supplied for him to actively use and enjoy is truly unmissable. Captured on film and in iconic photographs, chassis T000233 is ready to be adored by a new motorsport enthusiast.
To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/auctions/lf26/.