Went from a G37S 6mt for 10 years that I Sold about 1.5 years ago... I had a list narrowed between a Porsche 911 c2s 997 6mt BMW m3 f82 6mt Lexus RCF S2KCR.
I eliminated the porsche and bmw due to potential maintenance and repairs costing an arm. The S2K was more of a "side step" to the G37S. Ended up with the RCF which i kept for about a year.. an extremely realiable GT Cruiser, but didnt give me the engaged driver feeling i was missing of a manual of that which i've loved being in tune with the car.

One night back home after a night out i have a ritual of carousing through FB / Criagslist just looking for deals.. I saw a 05 GPW pop up for sale original owner. I had a flight out the next day back to TX for work and ended up making a deal in 3 hours.. Drove up to see the car about 2.5 hrs from where i live, cancelled my flight and drove the s2k 9 hours from MS--> TX. Loving it ever since. Its half the engine of the V8 Lexus, but i enjoy the hell out of it. Will not sell unless i have a chance to gain a CR.

 

I'm terrible at buying cars. No research, little forethought put into the process. I was going to buy an MR2 but the dumb dealer wouldn't budge on the price. Walked out of the dealership and ended up finding an NSX down in Houston. Shipped it home, quite happy with the car. But many of my friends have NA2 cars (the NSX equivalent to the AP2 S2000) that had targa roofs. Mine was an earlier car without a targa, a straight hardtop. Hmmm.... At one of our NSX meets someone showed up with an S2000. I thought "this looks like fun, and beats a targa roof hands down!". Ended up finding an AP1 and truly enjoy the car. Both the NSX and S2000 compliment one another nicely. I guess that my story is a little unusual in that I bought the NSX before I bought the S2000.

 

My wife is uncomfortable parking an SUV and terrified that someday she’ll be forced to drive stick in a life or death emergency. I picture a scenario in her head, where I’m bleeding out and there isn’t much time... surely, the result of selflessly heroic behavior on my part. At any rate, I was told that I shall drive the big family SUV and (for my own safety) it must be an automatic.

And I said “Fine! ...but I’m also buying a sunny day car and it will be hopelessly impractical, and perhaps a little bit terrifying”. With that goal in mind, I bought a clean 1973 Porsche 914 with steel GT flares... to which I added an aluminum block LS and a Boxster 6-speed box. It took me a few years to build it up from a bare shell... and a few more years to realize that it was miserable to drive in South Texas heat. At the time of this revelation, my next door neighbor had an ‘00 S2000, and my brother had an ‘06 S2000. I had driven and thoroughly enjoyed both. And while I took pride in having a classic hotrod that I built myself, I was envious of their power roofs and their air conditioning.

I listed the Porsche and within 15 minutes I had a buyer lined up. It went to a collector in California and shares a garage with 5 other 914s, a 356, and a few other Germans. That same week, I stumbled upon a clean ‘06 NFR in Austin and I’ve been smiling ever since.

 

In 09 we were looking to sell our old 911 and trade our 07 328xi for a later model Boxster or M3.

Visited a BMW dealer, tested a MINI and noticed a black S2000 that had just been traded.

What the hell, lets' take a test drive.

Didn't buy that one but got a good trade on the 328xi a few months and picked up our 06.

After we studied the S2000/Boxster comparison we went for Honda reliability

 

I had always wanted an s2000, so one morning as I got off work (I work the graveyard shift) I decided to go check this black AP1 at an Acura dealership. I didn’t know how to drive stick at the time so I decided to just bite the bullet and just buy it. It was 2003 with only 26xxx on the clock, the car was beautiful and everything looked good, every panel had all matching vin # and the fenders hadn’t been rolled. No signs of rust and the soft top was super clean. Well long story short I did not end up getting that one because I couldn’t seem to find a bank that would finance it.
A month later I’m driving by my local Honda dealer and I see this “Silver stone” ap2 sitting on the lot with a price tag. I decide to stop and check out the car, turns out the color wasn’t silver stone it was “Chicane Silver”
I honestly couldn’t tell the difference. I ended up buying it and I’m really happy with it. I love the sound of a NA F22c.

 

Always loved open air vehicles. Loved 911 Targa's when I was a kid. When I was in college I had a lowered mini truck and bought a kit to convert it in to a targa. Bright Red Nissan 720 series. Beautiful truck.

Fast forward to the late 90's and magazines start writing articles about this prototype convertible Honda is showing at auto shows. Start reading the specs and it's the perfect car. I always say it's everything my truck always wanted to be.

So AFAIK they never announced a date when they'd be available here, just a general time frame. I'm at work one day and notice an ad in the paper from a local Honda dealer that says "WE HAVE THE S2000." Went down there after work and someone was driving off the lot in one. Thought he was going for a test drive but he had just bought it. They had one left, sitting in the middle of the showroom floor. Bright Red. They made me fill out half the paperwork towards buying the damn thing before they'd even let me test drive it, and then they couldn't find the keys to the other cars blocking it in. Was kind of funny. I had to work at 6:00 AM the next day but ended up being there til 11:00 buying the thing. It wouldn't have lasted another day.

Got it like 3 days after they hit the U.S.. One of the first ones. For the next 3 months everywhere I drove people acted like I was driving a Ferrari. Either they had never heard of it and thought it was exotic or they were enthusiasts and knew how good it was despite it's reasonable price. She turned 20 a couple weeks ago. And still amazing.

 

I will make mine short and simple

Started from youtube, mom loves convertible, I love s2000, bought her the car, throw a few mugen parts in it. Done deal.

build here:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/automoti...built-1195083/

 

Nice thread and great stories. Mine is long and has been told before. But I'll admit to being fond of how the S2000 parked in the garage came to be so don't mind repeating it. My very first car was a sports car — a Triumph Spitfire. Despite it's many shortcomings I loved that car and had a blast in it. The closest I would come to owning another sports car before the S2000 was my first "new car", a Honda CRX Si. Prior to acquiring a S2000 I had spent the previous decade having fun with motorcycles (more Honda's). While I like motorcycles, the same cannot be said of my wife. Even though she appreciates what riding does for my spirits, she herself has absolutely no interest in joining me on the bike. So we started kicking around the idea of buying a sports car that we could enjoy together. The more time I spent researching my options the more the S2000 appealed to me. I determined that when it came to a S2000 what I wanted was a pre-DBW AP2 car that was all stock with low miles in Grand Prix White over Tan. Typically when buying cars or motorcycles I tend to hold out for pretty much exactly what I want. I did not anticipate that the pickings would be rather slim when it came to my ideal S2000,

After what seemed like forever a 2004 model turned up on craigslist. It was in beautiful condition with 55K miles. The seller was a high-end dealer up in Seattle and the price wasn't too bad. I fired off an email response and heard back from them in no time at all — the car had already been spoken for. I was bummed and beginning to feel a bit frustrated. Then within a week another one appeared. This one was 2005 model and it looked every bit as clean as the 2004 car I missed out on. This one only had 24K miles and was being listed for considerably less than the other car. Unfortunately I didn't see the listing until after work that day. But I went ahead and sent an email along with my contact information to the seller who was located in central Oregon down in Bend (about the same distance away from Portland as Seattle). I let the seller know that I had been researching these cars for quite a while and that I realized the price was very fair if the car was as it appeared in the listing in which case I would be happy to pay the full asking price. I also noted that I was looking specifically for an all stock S2000 with the intention of keeping it that way. The next morning I was surprised to receive a text message from the seller who turned out to be an older woman and was interested in selling the car to me. Unfortunately there was enough interest in the car that she wasn't going to be able hold it until the weekend. I ended up taking the day off of work and my wife and I made the three hour drive to go see the car. Before we left the seller did commit to me that she would hold the car for us. A few different people made contact with her that day. One person was trying to buy the car out from underneath us, getting aggressive and offering more money. Fortunately she held true to her word and upon seeing the car it looked even better in person than it did in the listing. After we had finished the deal she shared with us that the person trying to buy the car from her knowing that we on our way had upset her enough that even if we had passed on buying the car she wouldn't have sold to him, period.

Not only was the seller a class act, but she turned out to be a pretty cool lady as well. Her name was Linda and she clearly loved the S2000. We also met her husband and he made it clear that the car was her baby. Sadly she had developed issues with her back and neck a few years previously and it had gotten to the point that driving the S2000 was just causing her too much pain. She simply had not been able to really enjoy the car for a number of years and finally decided it was time to sell. Linda took my wife and I each out separately in the car to a less busy location (we met at the credit union). She then let each of us drive the car. It was quite obvious that Linda had a good handle on the car's capabilities and she drove it accordingly. Somehow I did not find it all that surprising to learn that Linda was acquaintances with Parker Johnstone. After finishing my test drive Linda hustled me back to the credit union. Then she dashed off with my wife. The look on my wife's face upon their return was priceless. My wife had no idea what she was in for. It wasn't that Linda was reckless, rather it was just that my wife had no idea what these cars were capable of. Fortunately Linda's enthusiasm for the car extended beyond just driving it as she was also very meticulous when it came to seeing the the car was properly maintained. Rarely have I ever been so ecstatic with a purchase. The weather was perfect for the drive back home over the mountain. I was quickly reminded that you just can't beat driving with the top-down, especially when it comes to the first drive in a S2000 after taking ownership.

A couple days after getting the car home I texted Linda to thank her for everything. I let her know that my wife and I quickly agreed to name the S2000 "Linda" in her honor. I pointed out that way we could say let's get Linda and go for a drive. This made her happy and she let me know that she was very glad that we ended up with her car. She added that she knew we would really enjoy it. She was right.

 

One of my first cars was a rusty red 1965 MGB...
Fast forward to my first fun cars after kids, where I had a lovely 300zx for a few years.
Followed by a G35MT, a G37MT, a TT, then finally a pristine AP1 S2K that I found in Winnipeg that had never had a wrench on it other than fluid changes.
I think I will have this car for a long while..... :-)

 

My first Honda was the family lawnmower purchased new in 1984 (it's still running). My second Honda was a snowblower shortly after. I learned to drive on mom's '87 Accord. My first real Honda, a 1988 Honda Accord LXi with the pop up headlights, was a hand me down from my dad as a graduation gift in '93. In '97 I was freshly out of the Corps, and with my $10/hr job I leased the Eagle Talon TSi AWD with a loaded package, moon roof, leather, all power everything, it was the final year of production. I loved that car, I waited 4 years before I could get one, but one summer night sitting on the back porch flipping through the old man's Road & Track magazines, there appeared an ad that has changed my life in so many ways since. I can still see it today, even though it was dark the page glowed in the night from the reflection of the moon onto the glossy silver paint in the photo of this gorgeous convertible. The lines, the styling, the sparkle, and it was made by... Honda...? What? Honda is making convertible sport cars? I need to go tell the lawnmower and snowblower this, they probably don't know. I was hooked. I grew up with Hondas, I knew their reliability, performance, but this was something unique! But, I already have my 'dream' car, one that I had wanted for several years (the Eclipse/Talons were awesome back then), so it was not yet meant to be.


I moved from Michigan to California and in 2002 went to a Honda dealership to see the S2000 in person. They actually pulled it out of the showroom so I could test drive it, and I never even asked. With the top down we went for a spin around the block and I was hooked! There was something magical about that moment, the setting sun, the roar of the engine, the wind whipping through my hair. I've driven other convertibles, but nothing like this before. When we got back I was in a euphoric state, I couldn't get that shit eating grin off my face, I was walking around the showroom in a daze, about 20 minutes later I caught my reflection in a mirror, hair tussled about, tie slung over my left shoulder from the wind blowing it over from the drive. Sometimes, things happen between a man and machine that can be better then sex. That test drive...was better then sex. I found a new love, but I was young and just starting out, financially restricted, I had to wait, it was still not meant to be.


In 2004 something new appeared on the horizon that grabbed my attention and almost changed the trajectory of my life. Infinity unveiled their G35, and wow, what a looker! 6 cylinders, manual transmission, fully loaded to the gills with options and at the same price point as the S2000. Although I was convinced the S2000 was right for me, the G35 with a loaded package was really hard to pass up, and as the months went by I made up my mind, I was going to get a G35. I spent weeks researching it, and building my own custom package on Infinity's website. Around the same time, I helped out one of my closest friends to move out to California, hooking him up with a job and a place to stay, and his desk was right next to mine. One day I showed him the G35 I was building doing the 360 degree spin of the exterior, the interior, and showing why this package was the best with the features selected. At that time he was also looking to trade up from his Civic as we were becoming financially stable. He really liked what I put together, the gray color with spoiler, the options, he gave me one of those, 'good job man' pats that only good friends can do. The next day he comes in late, sits in his chair, swivels around and says, 'hey' to get my attention. I turn around and he tosses something at me. I catch it. They are car keys. They have an Infinity logo on them. He has an asshole smile on his face. Dammit! He bought the exact car I was spec'ing that I had shown him the night before. Sorry but no homo bro, I don't want to drive matching cars, so I put it on hold. The G35 was definitely not meant to be.


About a couple months later we were heading from my place to his, and for some reason we went at it, me in my '97 Talon Turbo with AWD vs his G35. From La Cienega on the 10 East to the 405 South and that long left handed sweeper ramp, we were pushing well into the triple digits. At some point a very loud pop was heard in my engine bay, the car performed fine but something clearly happened. My passenger who just so happened to be my visiting brother, and I couldn't figure out what that sound was, but concluded it was definitely something.


Well that something was the final excuse I needed to pull the trigger on an S2000. I didn't want to wait to see what would happen, and after 7 years, 77,000 miles, 3 Michigan winters I decided to trade the Talon in. I called a bunch of Honda dealers until I found one that had a Silverstone with red/black interior, front lip and rear spoiler, exactly the same beauty that mesmerized me 6 years earlier on that hot summer night. When I went to see the car, they took me to their parking garage, up an elevator to another floor and had me wait. A couple minutes later my new old lady pulled from around the corner, still covered in plastic. It was absolute love at first site. This is it, she's the one, she's coming home with me today. I had the pleasure of pulling most of the plastic off the car, including the one long nose piece off the hood was so, so, SO satisfying to remove. It could be compared to undressing your bride on your honeymoon, the excitement, the passion, the mind racing with the all the new possibilities and thrills that await us! With each new protective plastic wrap removed, revealed more of her beauty and I was gobsmacked in disbelief that this was finally going to happen. There are many S2000s, but this one is mine. That was 15 years ago, we've been happily together ever since.


And that is how I met my S2000.