A Honda NSX roadcar that belonged to Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna is set for a huge sale at auction in the UK later this year.
The NSX – chassis number T000233 – was one of three owned by Senna, with a black roof on top of a red bodywork, and will go under the hammer at Sotheby’s in October.
Senna’s relationship with Honda was a remarkably successful one, beginning in 1987, when Team Lotus acquired their engines, which was Senna’s final season with the British team.
The Brazilian joined McLaren, which also now had Honda engines, winning the championship in his first year – the first of three titles.
Such was the closeness that the Japanese giants and Senna enjoyed, that teammate and bitter rival Alain Prost previously speculated Senna was receiving updated units for his McLaren, giving him an edge.
With Senna a two-time champion after his contentious and controversial clash with Prost in Japan, Honda gifted him the three models, having also tested the prototypes of the car during the year.
Such was Senna’s insight in its development, that the suspension and frame were adjusted, having been told by Senna that the car was “a little fragile”.
The NSX was registered in Lisbon, near to one of Senna’s properties, and was the car he drove when he arrived in the country, often driving to Grands Prix.
It was featured in the 1992 documentary Ayrton Senna: Racing Is In My Blood, and in now-famous footage of him driving it around Suzuka, completed with a full view of his driving technique in brown loafers.
View the footage below!
The car is expected to fetch between £500,000 to £800,000 at RM Sotheby’s annual flagship auction at the Peninsular in London on October 31.
Full details of the Senna Honda can be found here!
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