Could a new Honda S2000 be coming for 2024?

If a new report will be believed, Honda may be planning for a successor towards the S2000 roadster. The initial Honda S2000 was designed to mark Honda Motor’s 50th anniversary. The new car would be released in 2024, a quarter-century following the original’s 1999 Japanese debut and coinciding with Honda’s 75th birthday.

As reported by Forbes, who merely cites “a source close to Honda,” the company’s marketing team is “seriously considering” an all-new iteration of the S2000. Veteran Japanese auto industry reporter Peter Lyon states that 20th Anniversary Idea of that old S2000, which you might recall was shown at January’s Tokyo Auto Salon, was intended to keep enthusiasm opting for an upcoming model.

The Forbes piece adopts a little more detail, saying the car would have similar proportions towards the original, using aluminum and carbon fiber to maintain a sub-3,000-pound curb weight. Engine-wise, the report says Honda was considering a 350-horsepower form of the two.0-liter turbo based in the Civic Type R.

As exciting as a new Honda sports vehicle could be, color us skeptical on this one. For one, rumors of a Honda roadster revival happen to be ongoing practically because the S2000 went of production in 2009. Honda has also been historically reluctant to share engineering along with other companies, and is unlikely to partner with another to defray costs, as Toyota did with BMW and Subaru, or Mazda with Fiat.

The Type R makes 306 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque, and starts at $37,495. Using the pricey materials, a conversion to rear-wheel-drive, along with a convertible top, a new S2000 would have difficulty coming in under $50,000.

And then there’s this odd tidbit from the Forbes article: “Obviously the Civic Type R's brilliant, close ratio six-speed manual transmission would be used with the new S2000.” Except, there really isn’t a way to adapt a transversely mounted front- or all-wheel-drive transmission into a longitudinal orientation for any rear-wheel-drive car. A replacement would need to be developed on your own, adding more to the cost.

The original S2000 was known for its high-revving 2.0-liter engine, which in fact had the greatest power-to-displacement ratio of any production car on the planet at that time. And the S2000 was itself an homage to Honda’s first passenger car, the 1963 S500, whose motorcycle-inspired engine could rev to 10,000 rpm.

If Honda could produce a car to keep the spirit of these cars, we would welcome it with open arms. With Toyota reviving the Supra, Nissan brewing a new Z, and Subaru giving us a continuation from the BRZ, perhaps there’s a chance for the S2000 as well.