The most expensive cars from automakers you don’t associate with luxury cars

From Honda with the NSX to the Lexus LFA and Nissan GT-R, several ‘humble’ automakers tried building an expensive supercar in the past.

Following the old adage that says you got to have it to sell it, these automakers ventured in uncharted territories, with mixed results.

The list is quite long, but there are a few entries that stand out.

And there’s also a car here with an incredible story.

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Honda/Acura NSX

The NSX, sold as Acura in North America and as Honda everywhere else, shocked the world when it first came out, in 1990, because it had the credentials to compete with equivalent Ferraris and Porsches, but it only costs $62,000.

For reference, rival supercars from the likes of Ferrari or Porsche were at least twice if not three times as expensive.

As a result, the NSX is still worth a lot of cash in the pre-owned market.

Even decrepit models sell for $30,000 or $40,000, while examples in good condition are worth six figures, which means they’re basically still worth exactly what they cost 35 years ago.

The new Acura NSX, unveiled a few years ago, is still cheaper than its European counterparts, but a lot more expensive in comparison.

You need nearly $200,000 to get one.

Ford GT – The ‘blue-collar’ supercar

The Ford GT is the great-grandson of the legendary GT40, the race car that Ford build specifically to beat Ferrari at Le Mans.

The irony is that the GT40 was originally perceived as some sort of blue-collar hero that could take on Ferrari and win, but there’s nothing that’s blue-collar about the new GT.

When it was first launched, the MSRP was north of $350,000, and then Ford launched some models that cost seven figures.

What’s more, this wasn’t even a car you could just go out and buy if you had the money to do it.

Nope, this was one of those cars you could only buy if you were approved to do so first.

Nissan GT-R

Some people would argue that the Nissan GT-R shouldn’t be on the list and they’d have a point for two reasons.

First, when it first came out nearly two decades ago, it was relatively inexpensive for a high-performance car, with an MSRP well under $100,000.

Second, the GT-R is the successor to the Skyline, which is not a supercar, and was also relatively inexpensive in the olden days.

But we reckon the GT-R has to be here precisely because those two conditions, unfortunately, don’t apply anymore.

The Skyline, especially the R34 that Paul Walker drove in the Fast and Furious franchise, is a rare and valuable gem these days.

This also impacted the Nissan GT-R which, in some cases, can cost as much as seven figures.

How the Lexus LFA became such an iconic supercar

Lexus is a sub-division of Toyota, so the first thing worth pointing out is that what you see here was designed by the same automakers that gave us the Prius.

When it was launched, in 2010, car fans and collectors alike had a collective ‘I’m sorry, what?!’ moment.

And it got weirder when Lexus said they would only make 500 of these, and each one would cost $375,000.

Today, $375,000 is sometimes not enough to buy a car from luxury automakers but, back then, you could’ve bought (literally) two Ferrari F430s for that.

The Lexus LFA has since become a cult classic, partly because of the way it looks, but mostly because of the amazing sound its V10 makes.

And it turned out to be a great investment, too.

These days, you’re lucky if you can find a Lexus LFA for less than $700,000.