Senna's personal 1991 Honda NSX heads to auction with £800,000 top estimate

A 1991 Honda NSX personally owned by three-time Formula 1 world champion Ayrton Senna will be auctioned in London on 31 October, with RM Sotheby’s placing a pre-sale estimate of between £500,000 and £800,000 on the car.

Chassis T000233 — finished in Formula Red with a contrasting black roof — was one of three NSX models allocated to the Brazilian driver. The car was imported by Honda Automobil de Portugal and first registered on 22 March 1991 under the plate “SX-25-59”. According to the official RM Sotheby’s listing, it was stored in Lisbon and delivered to Senna each time he visited the country.

The NSX is powered by a six-cylinder three-litre engine producing 271bhp, capable of reaching 60mph from a standstill in 5.8 seconds and a top speed of 165mph — figures that reflected Honda’s ambition to challenge Ferrari and Porsche in the early 1990s supercar market.

Senna played a direct role in shaping the car’s development. During testing at the Suzuka Circuit, he described the chassis as “a little fragile”, feedback that prompted Honda to stiffen the frame by 50 per cent and refine the suspension tuning, according to the auction listing. The NSX also appeared in the 1992 documentary Racing Is in My Blood.

Following Senna’s death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, the car remained in Portugal before being sold to British collector Robert McKagan. McKagan sold the NSX in 2024, after which it was briefly returned to Japan before being imported back to the UK ahead of the current sale.

The NSX is among several headline lots at RM Sotheby’s The London Auction 2026, which also includes a 2004 Porsche Carrera GT, a 2023 Aston Martin Valkyrie Coupe, a 1988 Ferrari F40, and a 1994 Lamborghini Diablo SE30.