Ayrton Senna’s Red Honda NSX is up for grabs

One of Ayrton Senna’s three Honda NSX sportscars is on the block, with its British owner asking £500,000.

The red NSX lived at his Portuguese home. His other two were black. One of these the F1 champ drove in Brazil.

First registered in 1991 the red item has 62,900 kilometres on the odometer.

The car featured in the 1992 documentary film ‘Racing is in my Blood’. Another film about the racer dropped in 2010, simply entitled ‘Senna’. 

Considered one of F1’s greatest drivers of all time, Ayrton Senna dominated the racing scene in the late 80s and early 90s. He won 41 races and three world championships with McLaren.

Senna died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, the 30-year anniversary of his passing due on 1 May. 

The NSX remained in Portugal after his death, until the current owner, Robert McKagan, purchased it in 2013. He has now put it up for sale via a listing on Auto Trader.

“I first bought the car in 2013 during a trip to the Algarve in Portugal and have owned it ever since” McKagan said.

“The red NSX was a gift from Honda, and Senna frequently drove it and was photographed in it during his stays in Portugal.

“Being a huge Senna fan, I was delighted when I was able to get my hands on the NSX. It is an incredible experience to drive on road.

“It’s been a real pleasure owning what is one of the most famous cars belonging to a true sporting legend. The thrill of driving Senna’s car never goes away.”

The NSX uses a naturally aspirated six-cylinder three-litre engine. It develops 271bhp, is rated to reach 96km/h in 5.8sec and has a quoted top speed of 266km/h. In 15 years of production Honda made almost 19,000 but only 1500 ended up in Europe.

Senna’s red Honda famously lapped the Imola Circuit in 2019, at the 25th anniversary of his death, when Minardi F1 team founder and circuit boss Giancarlo Minardi drove an honorary lap.

The car will go on display at the Senna Exhibition in Silverstone this August. Should it sell, McKagen asked that he “would prefer the car to be collected after the exhibition closes”.