Honda Planned a Mid-Engine V8 NSX Predecessor But the '70s Oil Crisis Killed It

The oil crisis of the 1970s changed the face of the global automotive industry in a flash. Many great cars were given smaller engines, if not cancelled altogether. But one car's cancellation hurts more than most, because it denied the world a Honda sports car with a mid-mounted V8 almost two decades before the NSX burst onto the scene.

Ironically, emissions concerns actually had a hand in kicking off this project, as well as eventually killing it. In the 1960s, both the Japanese and United States governments were beginning to crack down on pollution. Health concerns of smog and lead fuel poisoning were growing, and both countries sought to make cars cleaner than ever before. Honda had been working on new combustion technology in the early '70s, which would have made it the first manufacturer to design an engine compliant with the U.S.'s then-new Muskie Act.