Acura NSX Roadster Design Revealed in European Patent Filing

Either Acura is at work on an NSX roadster, or it's just looking to protect the design of Tony Stark's car in the upcoming movie The Avengers. These European patent filings show a car that very much resembles the rumored replacement for Iron Man's Audi R8 Spyder. A roadster version of the new NSX hybrid sports car, which was recently confirmed for production, makes perfect sense. An additional, potentially higher-priced NSX variant would help further amortize the car's development costs and widen its appeal to more customers. Plus, the Audi R8 and Porsche 911, two likely competitors for the next NSX, both offer convertible options. The NSX seen in these patent images looks basically the same as the hardtop concept car that Acura brought to this year's Detroit auto show. The only major styling difference can be found around the rear deck, where the convertible gets roll protection that leads into a pair of speedster-style humps over the engine compartment. It's not immediately clear what kind of roof, if any, the NSX in the patent drawings uses; it's probably not a complicated bikini top like that on the Porsche Boxster Spyder. We'd prefer to see a softtop like the one used on the R8 Spyder. It's important to note that while these patent filings seem to depict a production-ready design, Acura has yet to confirm whether such a model is even in the pipeline. The hardtop NSX goes on sale sometime in the next three years, likely as a 2016 model. It is being engineered in the U.S. and will be built in Ohio. from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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