It happens at every major auto show: Carmakers unveil sexy show cars destined to get watered down for production, or that have little relevance to any future production cars. Our friends at Acura have a history of building concepts that go nowhere?remember the terrifying Advanced Sedan concept from 2006"?as well as show cars such as the 2012 NSX concept that translated brilliantly into the production NSX. This year, as the Acura Precision concept sedan wows the masses at the Detroit auto show, we pulled its lead designers aside to see what, if any, of the car?s many interesting aspects really matter.

A ?Vision Car,? Not a Production Preview
First off, this is not a preview of a future production model; rather, it is a ?vision car? commissioned during the afterglow of the production NSX?s introduction exactly a year ago. According to lead exterior designer Michelle Christensen, who also served as the lead exterior designer of the NSX, it’s intended to clarify Acura?s mantra of ?Precision Crafted Performance,? for both internal and external purposes. ?Coming off of [the NSX launch] we wanted to look at our lineup and design language and reassess where we?re going. We had every intent to trickle the NSX design elements and soul into our products, so we wanted to make a vision car not only to show the world what our intentions are, but also to have a muse in the studio to inspire our designers and get everyone on the same page.?
?We?re Applying as Much of This as...