Could an S2000 successor be in the pipeline – based on the CR-Z?

Ever since Honda announced that production for the S2000 will end, there have been rumors about another coming. Some called it an AP3, yet others were looking forward eagerly to the arrival of the NSX. Rendered images flooded the internet and Honda too fueled the speculation with the OSM concept, and by starting to test the NSX prototype.

Photo courtesy of Airgate

All seemed to bode well for us Honda faithful until, the global economic crisis put paid to such expectations. Honda announced that their dream is dead – well, not quite, but you get what we are saying.

The CR-Z, until then a relatively lower profile project, acquired star level status with Honda according it full priority. The hype built up around it as word leaked out that it’s handling was benchmarked against the Mini Cooper and that the Lotus Elise was the inspiration for suspension tuning. The CR-Z has now launched globally, and has met with mixed reactions. There has been guarded acceptance as well as lament on the fact that Honda lost its mojo, from press, public and forum fanboys alike.

That said, Sam Mitani of Road & Track magazine has just posted a blog post about Honda’s plans for a drop-top based on the CR-Z. Per Mitani, Soichiro san’s spirit lives on at Honda, and there are voices expressing the need for a sports car to uphold Honda’s image. The supposed plan is to build a roadster based on the CR-Z that may eventually be followed by a RWD hybrid sports car. This roadster is expected to be FWD but making more power in order to keep up and compete with the Miata. A part of me feels bad seeing how Honda went from competing with the Porsche Boxster & BMW Z3/Z4 to building a car to keep the Miata on its toes. Yet another part of me feels happy knowing that there is some positive buzz about sporting and sports car tradition and hope springs eternal that we will have another S2000 like car from big H. What do you guys think? Click through to read the blog post from Road & Track and see the rendering of the CR-Z roadster.

SOURCE: Road & Track Magazine