Acura Engineers Chop an NSX Test Mule in Half To Create Sweet Trailer for an NSX Type-S

Test mules have lives that are tougher than prison steak. If you’ve ever seen one—or driven one—you’d see all the slicing, dicing, welding, and wrenching the rolling prototypes endure to create a production vehicle that may see the road someday.

When it came time for engineers at Acura to decide what to do with an NSX mule, rather than subject the hybrid supercar to another fate or the crusher, they created a support trailer. But not just any support trailer—half of an NSX of a support trailer. 

Starting this weekend, the one-and-a-half Acura NSX will participate in One Lap of America, a 3,200-mile race across the U.S. The car—and trailer—will be driven by two Honda engineers from Ohio across 15 states in the event. The trailer, made by ADC fabrication—the same folks that gave us the HPD Beast CR-V racer, will carry tires, tools, and fluids to the track events held at Road Atlanta and Nashville Superspeedway. 

“When we saw the opportunity to build a trailer out of an Acura NSX supercar we thought, ‘Why not?’” Justyn Bobinski, vehicle dynamics and brake system engineer at Honda’s North American Auto Development Center in Ohio said in a statement. 

The trailer was fitted with custom barn doors and is shod with Falken tires, HRE wheels, and riding on H&R springs. To accommodate what’s likely to be the only Acura NSX with a trailering package ever, engineers hooked up a rear camera to the car’s infotainment system and tacked on a rear crash bar for the tow hitch. An Acura TLX Type S sedan will follow the NSX and trailer along the route but likely won’t get as many stares along the way. 

Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out where this concept seemingly originated: YouTuber and fabricator Chris Cut, who made a splash in 2021 when he chopped a first-gen NSX in half to create a travel trailer for his car. Don’t worry, the sacrificial NSX was already junk. The project has since picked up tens of thousands of fans and followers and as Cut has driven it to shows and meets around the country over the last two years.

Back to today’s project: it’s not just about circumnavigating the US while dragging around a half NSX. The teams are racing for the Victory Center, which provides support to cancer patients and their families. That proves that racers aren’t just weirdos, they’re weirdos with a heart. 

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