Honda via YouTube We look to the past to satisfy an innate need for narratives, ones that create a direct line from where we were yesterday to where we are today. But reality is full of detours, one of which Honda is now revisiting. The automaker recommissioned an HSV-010 GT, the race car it campaigned in the Japanese Super GT series from 2010 to 2013 while trying to decided what direction to go with the second-generation NSX. This is likely the first time one of these cars has run since they were withdrawn from competition, and Honda Racing posted high-quality audio of the reawakened 3.4-liter V8 engine revving on its YouTube channel. It’s part of a series of videos that also includes an RA272 Formula 1 car and the HSV’s NSX GT predecessor. The driver may just be blipping the throttle while parked, but it’s probably better than what you’ll get from old Super GT clips. Honda via YouTube Super GT cars are normally based (albeit loosely) on production models, but the HSV-010 GT was an exception. It originated with Honda’s initial plan to replace the first-generation NSX, production of which ended in 2005. That plan called for a front-engine car powered by a V10. If that sounds like a big leap from the mid-engine V6 NSX, keep in mind that V10 engines were still being used in F1 at the time these decisions were being made, so a V10 road car would have been more relevant. Toyota was thinking along similar lines with the project that eventually yielded the Lexus LFA. The Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept (ASCC) debuted at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show with a front-mounted V10 and rear-biased all-wheel drive system. Meanwhile, Honda continued to race the NSX in Super GT under a waiver that would expire in 2009. The V10 NSX was already looking unlikely by that time, but in need of a new car to race, Honda received permission from organizers to create a purpose-built racer allegedly inspired by that front-engine car. The HSV-010 GT does appear to have borrowed some styling elements from the ASCC, but instead of a V10 Honda went with a V8 based on one from the Formula Nippon (now Super Formula) single-seater series. It made about 500 horsepower and 290 pound-feet of torque in its baseline spec. Weider Honda Racing scored a drivers’ and teams’ championship double with the car in its debut season, and the HSV-010 GT would win 10 races during its four seasons in competition. For 2014, Honda replaced the HSV-010 GT with the not-quite-production-ready second-generation NSX. It may have jumped the gun a bit, but the mid-engine V6 hybrid NSX road car did eventually go on sale. But Honda still hasn’t produced a V8 supercar (it’s only V8 road car is a rebadged Land Rover Discovery from the 1990s), making the HSV-010 GT truly special. Got a tip about something sounding awesome? Send us a note at tips@thdrive.com