Best Car Magazine in Japan snapped two spy pictures of a clay or fiberglass model of a small sports car outside of Honda's R&D headquarters in Japan. It was apparently being hauled in on a pallet when somebody got lucky and snapped a photo (remember that in Japan, nearly every cell phone has a reasonably high resolution camera built in).
Best Car speculates that this is next S2000. The yellow car is their own prediction of styling, the gray car in the photographs is the actual model that was found. You'll notice the two are entirely different...!
Our opinion: this is NOT AN S2000.
First, lets get it straight what a model like this would be used for. Designers create many alternative styling exercises during the creation of a new model. Some make it into clay, some go further and make it into a fiberglass stage. Often, several models are compared against each other in specially prepared rooms, where stylists, product managers, or executives can compare them against each other. Sometimes the company will bring together potential customers as a "focus group" to make methodical comparisons of their impressions - however those groups are held off-campus to keep assumptions or distractions to a minimum. The attendees usually don't even know which company they are speaking to.
And, these types of things are done years before production.
Now lets look at the photos above.
Note the extra small 4-bolt wheels... while these wouldn't be part of an S2000, remember that the models are just "bucks" - either solid clay or hollow fiberglass inside. Obviously no running gear. So those wheels are just for convenience at this point. Before decisions are made, a final set would be added.
Then there are the headlights. These are merely the fancy of a stylist... having no possibility of production due to their placement. That tells us that the stylists are looking for styling themes... not production fact.
Then there is the front overhang - which with the very short length of the engine compartment tells us that this is a front wheel drive car with a transverse engine. It is most certainly not a front-mid engine design, where the engine is placed behind the front axle centerline.
So, all together now: this is NOT AN S2000.
It is something... perhaps a model that the earlier OSM concept represented. But, it is NOT AN S2000.
