Yes, that headline you just read is correct. While it has been largely forgotten today, nearly 20 years ago, Honda's luxury brand Acura once thought about building a V10-powered sports car.

From a brand that's known for making high-revving four-cylinders, powerful V6s, and turbocharged inline-fours, it was surprising that Honda wanted to create a sports car with more than eight cylinders. Heck, it's quite ironic since Honda has avoided building V8-powered cars and only makes V8 engines for Formula 1, IndyCar, and marine outboard applications.

But what exactly was this V10 sports car concept? It was called the Acura Advanced Sports Car, and it was essentially going to replace the NSX. Billed by Acura to “take exotic sports car styling to a new level”, the concept previewed Acura's future design direction at the time, which combines advanced technology with emotion.

With its sculpted lines, long hood, low-slung bumpers, massive alloy wheels (19 inches in the front and 20 inches in the back), quad exhausts, and stylish taillights, the Advanced Sports Car looked stunning from every direction. But serving as its main attraction was its engine.

Instead of just having a powerful V6, Acura (or Honda) went all out and chose a front-mounted V10 engine that will be paired with the brand's Super Handling AWD system (SH-AWD). It was estimated to have a displacement between 5.0 and 5.5L and would generate at least 500 PS or more. With that kind of power, perhaps Acura was looking to take on the likes of the Nissan GT-R and other European exotics.

But alas, the car never went into production due to the global economic downturn of 2008 and the automaker reporting an 81% drop in profits in December of that year. In that same year, former Honda Motor president & CEO Takeo Fukui announced that the project was canceled, but not entirely.

That's because the concept evolved into the Honda HSV-010 GT race car, which competed in Japan's Super GT Series. While it did not have a V10 under the hood, it did have a 3.4L naturally aspirated V8 that made 500 PS with 392 Nm of torque and was able to secure 10 victories from 2010 to 2013.

While the Acura Advanced Sports Car concept never came to be, Honda then surprised everyone in 2012 when they revealed the NSX Concept in Detroit. This then became the second-generation Honda/Acura NSX, which was revealed at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show with an electrified V6 powertrain and AWD.

Then in 2022, the NSX bid farewell once again after the automaker revealed a special send-off, the 600 PS NSX Type S. Only 350 were ever built, with 30 units for Japan, 300 for the US, and the remaining 20 examples for the rest of the world.

To think Honda was close to building a V10-powered sports car in 2007, only for the global economy to come crashing down in 2008, resulting in Honda binning the project. But if it wasn't for those events, the second-generation Honda/Acura NSX would not have happened.

Did you think Honda or Acura missed an opportunity with a V10-powered sports car that could take on the likes of the Nissan GT-R?