Honda discontinues S2000 roadster
Honda announced recently that the 2009 S2000 roadster would be the last, the New York Times reported earlier this month. The decision was not entirely unexpected after the company scrapped plans last month for the next NSX. When it was introduced in 1999, as a 2000 model, the S2000 was really unlike any car of its kind. Its four-cylinder engine was only two liters, but produced 240 horsepower. It had a redline of 9,000 rpms, and the car was most effective the closer you drove to that engine speed, which was a loud proposition. Later models had some changes in powertrain, including a lower redline, but even today, driving an S2000 could be the closest thing to riding a motorcycle. As the Times mused, "It was designed and built for pure fun by a company known for its common sense - 1999 was still the giddy beginnings of the Internet age. The Nasdaq was riding high, music was free, Apple sold its first iBook, Kobe still liked Shaq - and the S2000 fit right in. Honda sold more than 110,000 S2000s (and more than 65,000 in the United States)." Now the fun and games have come to an end. The era of rising stock markets and real estate has been replaced by a deep and dark recession. "So in many ways it is fitting that Honda has decided to end sales of the car that symbolized the carefree attitude of the past 10 years."
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