The Finished JAS Tensei Is Here: a Carbon NSX With a Judd V6, a Stick and Only 35 Build Slots

The NSX restomod that Pininfarina and JAS Motorsport first talked about in 2025 is done. On Oct. 8, the first images of the finished JAS Tensei came out: a first-generation Honda NSX chassis wearing a carbon body in deep blue, a Judd-built V6, a six-speed manual and a production run of 35.

Tensei means rebirth in Japanese, CarBuzz notes. JAS is the Italian racing team that has run Honda programs for nearly 30 years, and the idea is simple: keep the bones and the spirit of Honda's mid-engine car, and rework almost everything you can touch.

From design week to finished car

Pininfarina and JAS showed the car's proportions at Milano Design Week in April, Carscoops reported then: a longer wheelbase, a shorter rear overhang, a wider track, a lower stance and bigger wheels than the original. Lead designer Dimitri Vicedomini said "the car almost designed itself." Power, pricing and production numbers were promised for a full reveal later in the year. This is that reveal.

A Judd V6 that revs to 8,500

The engine comes from Judd, the British racing engine company, and JAS says it delivers "the scream of 1990s Grand Prix engines," per Carscoops. The exact numbers depend on who you read. Carscoops lists 420 PS (414 hp) from 3.4 liters with an 8,500-rpm redline, up from the donor's 3.0 liters and 8,000 rpm. CarBuzz says 3.5 liters and 425 hp, with a new crankshaft, new cams and titanium valves, and notes that VTEC did not carry over. Either way, it stays naturally aspirated, and it is a big step up from the original's 270 to 276 hp, depending on the source.

The V6 exhales through an Inconel exhaust and sends power through a six-speed manual with a titanium shifter and a Torsen limited-slip differential. No turbos, no hybrid, no paddles.

Chassis, brakes and body

According to CarBuzz, JAS laser-scanned the original chassis and reinforced it with carbon-Kevlar on the pillars and center tunnel. The front track is 6.7 inches wider, the rear 7.5 inches wider, and the wheelbase is 2.1 inches longer. The suspension uses billet aluminum wishbones, a multilink rear, fully adjustable four-way KW dampers and a front lift system. Brembo CCM-R carbon ceramic discs sit behind center-lock wheels, 19 inches in front and 20 in back, on Pirelli tires. Carscoops puts dry weight at 2,755 lb.

The look stays NSX. The pop-up headlights survive, now LEDs on a titanium mechanism, and so does the rear spoiler hoop, along with a redesigned wing and deeper side ducting. The cabin keeps the original layout with a digital gauge cluster, exposed carbon, full-grain leather and Alcantara, and CarBuzz says the design team drew on an F-16 cockpit.

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Our objective was not simply to update the NSX's design, but to understand its essence.

Thirty-five cars, close to a million dollars

Each of the 35 cars is tailored to its buyer. Carscoops reported in April that they will be hand-built at JAS Motorsport's facility in Arluno, near Milan, with customization handled in Cambiano. Carscoops puts the price at €880,000, about $985,000, and that does not include the NSX you have to supply. CarBuzz did not list a price.

That is a lot of money for a car that started life as a Honda. It is also the most serious attempt yet to do for the NSX what Singer did for the air-cooled 911: keep what made the original special, and build the car its fans always imagined. Whether anyone can tell a JAS from a well-sorted original from 50 feet away is beside the point. At 8,500 rpm, they will hear it.