This 1992 Acura NSX Is Getting a Turbo Three-Rotor Hybrid Drivetrain

The original Acura NSX is one of those cars most of us don't consider needing modification. But if you get your hands on one someone else already sullied, you may as well go hog wild—perhaps by building what may just be the first Wankel tri-rotor NSX.

So thought master mechanic and custom car builder Javier Cantres, who saved for years to afford an NSX before simply winning one in a raffle. It had already been modified with an unknown widebody, so he bought all the parts to build a 1,000-horsepower K-series for it—only to change his mind at the last second. Instead, he'd swap in a Mazda rotary engine.

"I'm Puerto Rican, so right off the bat, we love rotary motors," Cantres told us.

That's when a golden opportunity landed in his lap. Someone was selling an FD RX-7 project car, and it came with something special: a custom three-rotor short crank. Tri-rotor 20B engines are as desirable as they are expensive, and a market has popped up for custom cranks designed to use more attainable parts from the 13B two-rotor. They're still not cheap though, and getting one as a package deal with the unbuilt project car was a steal.

Then came the hard part.