A sleeper hit about 20 years ago, Acura is jumping on the “let’s bring back car names that younger buyers won’t remember” bandwagon, populated mostly by Dodge and Buick.

Slipping out of a seductive one-piece cover at Detroit’s Cobo Center, NSX Concept appears to be a sleek and powerful example of Japanese luxury design. Oddly enough, the car will be produced right here in the United States (Ohio), and possibly on sale within 2 – 3 years.

It has been confirmed (at least based off of the concept) that Acura NSX will have either rear wheel drive or all wheel drive, available in both manual and automatic transmissions.

Power for those rear wheels comes from a mid-engined V6 and new SH-AWD system, “which uses the gasoline engine to power the rear wheels and provide juice for the two electric motors mounted up front.”

Yes, we said electric motor. AWD and hybrid options should be available upon completion. Check back for more details as the NSX progresses.

Images: Motorward

A movie-ready version of NSX will be the featured ride of Tony Stark (aka: Superhero Iron Man) in the upcoming Avengers movie! A hybrid variant is also in the cards from Honda, who actually produce the vehicle and sell it under their nameplate overseas.

Online rumors suggest this all wheel drive sports car will “hit dealer showrooms in 24 months.”

The same Acura concept will also appear LIVE in January, 2012 at the Detroit Auto Show (North American International Auto Show).

Photo: WorldCarFans

It was a popular “sleeper” car in the early 90′s. Honda produced it, Americans only saw the Acura variant. It disappeared at the turn of the century. The NSX is back, supposedly.

“We need a halo car,” Honda’s design manager Yoshikazu Kigoshi told UK TV series TopGear, “and this is a decision that’s come from Ito-san down. A new S2000 is a difficult car for us to do, because of its front-engined, rear-drive platform. But we are definitely looking at the EV-ster and a new NSX.”

NSX will get the auto maker’s new SH-AWD torque vectoring system. This set up uses independent electric motors on its rear wheels to optimize cornering.

Source: Top Gear

With rumors that Honda will bring back the NSX in the form of HSV next year, MORE rumors pop up that Acura’s NSX will be resurrected. That’s right sports fans – Acura’s NSX supercar may rise from the dead. Why? Well Acura needs to run something in the Super GT racing series. This race requires production vehicles to be entered – so Acura will have to work on bringing back the NSX. Honda/Acura’s resurrected sportster will be the perfect ride for such an event.

According to sources at Inside Line & World Car Fans: While details are limited, the race car is expected to be virtually identical to the production NSX that was killed off late last year. However, the NSX racer will reportedly use a 3.4-liter V8 instead of a 5.0-liter V10 which was expected in the production model.

The Source: WCF

Originally cast under the Honda name, NSX was conceptualized in the late 1980′s and came to life as an Acura in 1990. NSX sports a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout and was powered by an all-aluminum V6. It was one of the more popular carriers of VTEC: “variable valve timing and lift electronic control.”

One of the first magazine articles showed the lightweight 3.0L 270 bhp NSX producing a best 0-60 mph time of 5.03 seconds and 13.47 seconds for the quarter mile. Also on a Ferrari 348 to NSX comparison, a 0-60 mph time of 5.2 seconds was recorded for the 1991 NSX. Not bad, and with a redline of 8000 rpm you’d expect no less. NSX grew in popularity so fast that Wheels magazine in Australia awarded the Honda NSX the 1991 Car of the Year award, and the Acura-badged car was Automobile Magazine’s Automobile of the Year that same year.

NSX gathered a wide range of fans and buyers globally, but as engines advanced to be more “green” NSX began to grow elderly. By 2005, NSX unit sales amounted to a few hundred vehicles per year worldwide. Honda deemed continuation of the NSX was not economically viable, considering the very high cost of manufacturing the NSX along with the company’s growing interest in producing a new model with a V10 engine and performance on par with the most modern high performance sports cars. Thus the final year of Acura NSX came and went, but it still flourishes at car shows and on race courses world wide.

The V10 powered vehicle was set to begin production next year, for a 2010 release in the states. The vehicles output ranged around 450 horsepower, with a sleek new design which would have set out to titillate foreign and luxury car fans alike. Honda, hang your head in shame! Below, we pay tribute with an Edmunds Spy Video of the “2011″ (according to Inside Line) Acura NSX: