Honda HP-X: What the Automotive Future Looked Like in 1984

The Honda HP-X, from 1984, was a major influence on the Honda NSX's design

Back in 1984, Honda unveiled its first-ever concept car, the wedge-shaped HP-X, which was designed by Pininfarina. Displayed for the first time at the 1984 Turin Auto Show in Italy, the HP-X was radical for that time; among other things, it featured advanced aerodynamics (including ‘ground effects’ for improved grip and handling at high speeds), a removable single-piece canopy instead of actual doors and a 2.0-litre V6 that was based on a Honda F2 racing engine. It also featured exotic materials, including carbonfibre and Kevlar for weight reduction. Given the technology available in the 1980s, the HP-X doesn’t have any TFT/LCD/LED display panels – the kind that are now common even on inexpensive hatchbacks – and its instrument panel is all-analogue. The said panel also incorporates a CD player, which is to be expected on a show car from that era since CDs were introduced in the early-1980s.

‘The HP-X did not go into production as such, but its influence on subsequent Honda models and the broader automotive landscape is undeniable,’ says Felix Kilbertus, Pininfarina's chief creative officer. And, indeed, the iconic Honda NSX supercar, which was launched in 1990, took its design cues from the HP-X, so the show car did influence at least one Honda production car. Now, Pininfarina has restored the 1984 HP-X, which will be displayed at the 73^rd Annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in the US, on 18^th August. This, according to Honda, ‘marks the first Japanese vehicle entry at the Pebble Beach Concours in over 50 years.’

I quite enjoy looking at old photographs of concept cars from the 1950s to the 1980s. There’s something special about show cars from that period – designers really let their imagination run wild, automotive dreams soared high, engineers were genuinely excited about the use of new technologies, manufacturers were ambitious and hopeful for the future and anything was possible. Of course, some of that still exists but modern-day show cars are, compared to their predecessors from a few decades ago, a bit more toned-down, with more concessions made to practicality and the possibility of the car actually going into production.

In any case, the HP-X serves as a reminder of Honda’s glorious automotive past and the superb cars they used to make – cars that were proper engineering marvels. Today, Honda cars are a bit boring, a bit mundane. They’re no longer ‘special’ in the way they used to be – just an ordinary gaggle of SUVs and MPVs and crossovers etc. Which begs the question, why is Honda bringing out the HP-X now, four decades after it was first shown? Is the Japanese company thinking of building another supercar…?

Honda is bringing out the HP-X again, four decades after the car was first unveiled. Could that possibly mean they're working on another supercar...?