Every once in a while, a great new car comes along that, despite its overall excellence, still reveals its incapabilities in becoming a sales success.

In this episode of The Carmudgeon Show, Jason remarks on his recent experience with the new Acura Integra, a car which looks better in person despite its snot-inspired launch colors. While Derek initially judges the car based on Legend and not Vigor, he ultimately concludes that maybe there’s more than meets the eye when stacked up against the crop of other new sporting and enthusiast-aimed cars in the segment.

This opens a discussion on the history of Honda and Acura’s image in the 80s and 90s and the types of folks who bought them- some of whom you may have street raced with if you pulled up in a similarly-matched Volkswagen in 1990s Pittsburgh.

Similarly, Jason and Derek discuss the wavering transitions between good and bad in 30 years of Acura product planning, and the importance of thoughtfully relaunching legendary nameplates. Can the current Integra carry the torch and become another future Honda classic? We may need another 30 years to find out.

All this and more, brought to you by the Hagerty Podcast Network.

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