A Final Word From Shigeru Uehara To S2000 Owners

A speech from Shigeru Uehara, the leader of the project to develop the Honda S2000.

“Good evening, everybody.

Thank you for inviting me to this very special event.

Today I’m so excited and pleased to be here because this is the first chance for me to actually meet and speak to S2000 owners in Europe.

I can see that you all love your S2000 very much and as the person who created the car I am really happy and feel very much honoured about that

The target for the S2000 was to realise both the dynamic performance of a ‘REAL-SPORTS’ and the relief of an ‘OPEN CAR’.

It has its roots in S600 and S800. 38 years ago – at that time I had just started at Honda – I admired the S800 and drove one myself. The high revving engine, the secure handling, the sense of freedom of an open car, all this gave to me and my late wife great fun and pleasure.

Time has passed and for Honda’s 50th annniversary we began a project to revive the ‘S’. Of course, this was meant to be the new ‘S’, not the old ‘S’, but the legendary heritage was still present.

The concept of the S2000 was ‘Real-Open-Sports’ and we decided to refine the car under European environments. We built the ‘S’ and tested it on a different kind of roads in Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy and the UK under various conditions.

I even do remember to have been close to here, Trento, on early research stage during a test drive.

Now this is how the one and only S2000 was born.  This means, the place where you can drive an S2000 really like an S2000, rev the engine up to 9000 rpm and take full advantage of its potential, is Europe. So in that respect you are all very lucky.

This year it is the 10th anniversary of the S2000 and it will also be its final year of production. In those ten years, 110,000 customers around the world bought an S2000 and have shown their appreciation for ‘Real-Open-Sports’.

For these people man and machine become unified and with the high revving engine, the accurate shifting they take the challenge of winding roads with the freedom of an open roof.

Please take good care of your S2000. Keep it by your side for long and enjoy it from the bottom of your heart. And share the quality and legacy of the S2000 with many friends so that the legend of the S2000 will continue for long.

Today, I sincerely want to thank all of you to have gone all the way with your S2000.

Ladies and gentleman thank you very much.”