Barely-driven AP1 S2000 looks stunning, but has a couple of mods that sticklers for originality might want to swap out for stock parts
by Chris Chilton
1 hour ago
The late 1990s and early 2000s was a great time for fans of high-revving engines. The industry-wide switch to turbocharging means most modern motors do their best work in the mid-range, but 20-25 years ago cars like the Honda/Acura Integra Type R and S2000 spun as high as 9,000 rpm, and didn’t give up their secrets until you were most of the way there.
But if this particular S2000 has ever visited the digital tach’s red zone, it can’t have done it very often. The odometer shows – and documentation backs it up – that this 2001 model-year S2000 has traveled only 948 miles (1,526 km) from new.
So you’ll probably not be surprised to learn that it’s still wearing the original 2001-dated tires it left Japan with, something the next owner will definitely need to address if they every want to use this S2000 as Honda intended.
Related: Custom Honda S2000 Mashes McLaren, Ferrari, And Audi Parts But Does Away With Doors
What is more surprising is that despite the incredibly low mileage, this car has at some point picked up aftermarket induction and exhaust systems. Both are popular mods for the S2000 that let the 2.0-liter, 240 hp (243 PS) F20C scream a little louder – the later 2.2-liter F21C in the 2004-on AP2 model made the same power but didn’t wind quite as high – though they’re perhaps an unusual choice for a car that appears to have been mothballed for most of its life, presumably with the hope that its value will increase.
Nothing that can’t be rectified though, if you prioritize absolute originality over performance.
Numerous comments on this Honda’s Cars & Bids auction listing note that it’s been listed for sale several times since 2016, but covered fewer than 50 miles (80 km) during that period. We wrote about it in 2021 when it allegedly sold for $48k on Bring-a-Trailer (having sold for $29k five years earlier), though since the current seller says he acquired the car in 2019 that sale must have fallen through.
The same eagle-eyed auction watchers also spotted that the rear bumper VIN plate had been painted over, something the seller says regretfully happened when they had the bumper repainted several years back after it was scraped while being transported.
That’s a shame for buyers looking for something that’s indistinguishable from new, but the fact remains that this thing is stunning to look at and ought to be equally stunning to drive once it’s had a full service, check over and those tires changed. Until Honda boots up some kind of in-house resto project of the kind Nissan introduced to restore R32 GT-Rs to as-new condition, this is as near to a brand new S2000 as you can get.
Will it ever be driven, though? Or is it destined to be passed around from collector to collector for the next 30 years, the odo never tripping over into four-figures? What would you pay for this time-warp S2000 and what would you do with it once you got it home?
