At $23,999, Is This 2001 Honda S2000 A Well-Broken-In Bargain?

Today’s Nice Price or No Dice S2000 may not look like a spaceship, but it’s done almost enough miles to make it to the moon. Let’s see if its price tag will make this an out-of-this-world deal.

Have you ever had the experience where having revealed deep-rooted feelings for someone you were crushing on, you were rebuffed with a disheartening response along the lines of “Eww, gross”? The 1980 Pinto Squire we looked at yesterday was on the receiving end of a number of such dispiriting responses. Few of you wanted anything to do with the ’70s staple wagon, and the $7,800 asking price wasn’t helping either. In the end, that earned the Pinto a substantial 65 percent No Dice loss.

As we all know, time wounds all heels, and things have changed a lot in the intervening years between the disco decade of the 1970s and the dawn of the present century. As an example of the progress we’ve made in the automotive world, consider the difference in output between the 2.3-liter engine in yesterday’s Pinto and that of the 2.0-liter in today’s 2001 Honda S2000. Both are naturally aspirated and although the Honda features less displacement, it’s more advanced, featuring an additional camshaft and twice the number of valves. The Honda’s 11:1 compression ratio is also substantially greater than the 9.0:1 of the Ford, and it makes its merriment a good 3000 rpm higher in the rev band. That ends up giving the Honda 240 horsepower and 153 lb-ft of torque, which, at the time of its debut, made it the highest-output naturally aspirated production engine in the world. On a good day, the Pinto four managed 88 horses and 119 lb-ft of twist, making it unremarkable even for its less-than-competitive era.

In addition to having a modern, record-shattering engine under its hood, this Honda sports car has a few additional tricks up its sleeve. According to the ad, the two-seater is also a one-owner car that has been “Immaculately Maintained” and remains in “Pristine Condition.” It is being sold as “Nearly 100% OEM,” save for the stereo, and with a new top, a well-maintained motor, and a number of other big-ticket replacements under its belt. It also has a staggering 212,000 miles on the clock.

Yikes, that’s a lot of miles. The car doesn’t seem to show them, though. The Silver Stone paint appears to still pop, and the headlamps are appreciably un-yellowed. The factory AP2 alloys are also in decent condition and are wearing new Hankooks. Above all that, the replacement top appears to be taut and apparently goes up and down with no problem.