Honda’s New Classic Restoration Program Makes Performance Top of Mind

Whether it’s luxury marques like Aston Martin or more mainstream brands like Toyota, restoration programs are pretty much de rigueur nowadays. Enthusiasts still love the old stuff, and ongoing support is a mark of a brand’s commitment to history.

Honda’s latest program takes that initiative to the next level. That’s because, as part of a newly announced Heritage Racing Program, the brand will actually be selling running, driving race machines from its past Honda and Acura motorsport efforts.

Honda

Honda’s new heritage racing effort

Honda Racing Corporation is running the program out of its US operation in Torrance, California. As part of the endeavor, the outfit is cracking open its vault to not only allow buyers to purchase competition vehicles but also to have them fully restored.

Now, it’s worth noting that HRC is being careful not to rewrite the past. Each restoration will be “meticulously performed” with reference to materials such as original homologation documents, plus notes and photographs from the original HRC engineers. They come with extensive archival backing.

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Still, it’s a thorough effort. Honda tears down each car completely for reassembly with new and reconditioned parts. Electronics are modernized, and components like the engines are rebuilt at its dedicated Santa Clarita facility.

Finally, post-restoration, each machine is thoroughly track-tested to ensure it passes muster. Honda will even make HRC engineers available for on-site support and to assist the new owner in any competition endeavors.

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A more considered preservation

If you take a look at the listings on the Heritage Racing Program site, you’ll see Honda has kicked things off with some real drool-worthy vehicles. Along with open-topped legends like Acura’s first endurance racer in the ARX-01a, there’s also an NSX GT3, and others are in the pipeline.

Still, most enthusiasts will never be able to afford a vehicle packing this kind of pedigree, so what’s the point? Well, Honda has circled this territory before, and the evolution is worth noting. 

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In April of last year, HRC launched a memorabilia and race-artifact business, offering race artifacts, signed merchandise and limited-edition collectibles to collectors. I covered one notable item from that effort: Ayrton Senna’s last Honda V10 F1 engine.

The two initiatives undoubtedly share a spirit and a lineage. However, the Heritage Racing Program makes for a much more meaningful demonstration of Honda’s commitment to its history. After all,  it’s one thing to sell a static artifact; it’s something else entirely to hand buyers the keys to a championship-winning racecar.

What’s more, it falls within a larger commercial push from in-house performance outfits. Whether it’s HRC’s expansion into consumer parts or Nismo’s growth outside Japan, the space is heating up.

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More to come

Ultimately, Honda’s decision to offer these vehicles is notable because it formalizes the process for efforts like Acura’s 40th-anniversary IMSA restoration. It also goes to show that “race on Sunday, sell on Monday” holds up, even for competition vehicles themselves.

If you want to catch the Acura ARX-01a in the metal, it’ll be on display at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering on August 14.

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