The S2000 CR (Club Racer) was a limited-production model of the S2000, designed for the serious enthusiast who wanted an even more focused driving experience. The CR featured a number of performance upgrades, including stiffer suspension, lightweight wheels, aerodynamic body kit, and a removable hardtop for a more streamlined look. Only 669 copies were ever made of which 668 were produced for 2008 and 31 for 2009. It was rumored that Honda was expecting to make a few thousand of these cars but with the economic downturn of 2008, the entire S2000 line was discontinued.
This particular S2000 CR was a 2009 model finished in Rio Yellow Pearl, a color shared with the 2004-2005 Acura NSX and (at the time of this post) is the most expensive S2000 to ever be publicly sold bringing in a whopping $200,000 at a BringATrailer auction in April of 2022. That might sound pretty ridiculous as the original MSRP of this car was only $38,465 ($47,542 in 2023 dollars) back in 2009.
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Now this is where the story gets interesting. I was contacted by an S2Ki.com forum member about an elusive unregistered CR in Northern California. At this time, I was an owner of a 2008 S2000 CR in Apex Blue Pearl and was looking to add another one to my collection. I found out that not only was this car unregistered with delivery miles, it was a 2009 model. 1 of 31 for 2009, and 1 of 8 finished in Rio Yellow Pearl. A freaking unicorn 🦄.
I immediately took the 200 mile trek from Long Beach to Paso Robles and couldn’t believe my eyes when I arrived at the seller’s house. Tucked away in the corner of his garage and in between two other yellow Pontiacs (one of which is also a delivery-mileage GXP coupe) was this CR parked perpendicular to the others. We had to do some crazy maneuvering to get the car out (aka Austin Powers parking scene) and we made sure to take our time because we didn’t want anything to happen to this gem. The seller didn’t keep the car covered, he said he hadn’t even washed it since his acquisition of it to preserve the paint, this was apparent by the original dealership markings on the passenger side window. The CR was immaculate, pristine, heck I couldn’t even call it mint-condition as it was better to describe it as BNIB (Brand new In Box).
The thing was, the seller wasn’t quite ready to sell the car just yet. This CR came from a collection of all yellow cars (including a delivery-mileage 2005 Acura NSX). The seller met the previous owner on a car forum and became really good friends with him throughout the years. This collector really loved yellow and had a thing for last model year vehicles (there was also a 2005 Acura NSX with delivery miles in his collection). The seller brought out a binder full of services records, new vehicle delivery paperwork, and sales documents which all seemed typical to collector car owners; but what really stood out was he had printouts of the research that the previous owner conducted to find this last model year S2000 CR. The original owner sought out to find the highest VIN possible for this car and he documented the entire process. The printouts included listings of all other S2000 CRs for sale at the time and email exchanges with S2000 and NSX forum members who were knowledgeable in S2000 CR production numbers.
Unfortunately, this collector was terminally ill and he asked the seller to help him sell off his collection for his estate. I can’t recall the exact number of cars, but I believe the seller mentioned there were at least 30 or so low mileage (or delivery mileage) yellow cars that he helped sell. In the end, this S2000 CR was the last one on the list and to the seller’s surprise the collector gifted this vehicle to him as a show of appreciate for being such a good friend over the years. The seller kept this car in immaculate condition for many years just as his good friend would have done, including driving it around the block every few months and changing the oil every year.
The seller actually hadn’t considered selling this car to me at all, he never gave a final number and I took the drive to his house knowing that there was a chance the deal could not be made. After chatting with the seller for a few hours about the history of the car, I ended up shaking his hand and we parted ways. The only promise that was given to me was that I was free to come visit him any time, and if he were to decide to sell it that I would be given first choice.
After almost a year of chatting with the seller talking about his other project cars and sharing pictures of S2000s, he was finally ready to sell. The seller gave me a number to which I immediately agreed and drove up with a trailer the very next weekend and on 9/18/2018 this CR was mine. I planned on keeping this S2000 “forever”. This was supposed to be a pristine example to be displayed in a beautiful garage at the center of a multi-million dollar collection. Unfortunately, I’m not a millionaire and I didn’t have that showroom garage to do this car justice. After realizing it is pointless to own a car that I legally couldn’t drive as I didn’t want to register it, I sold her in April of 2022 to the dealer that ended up putting her up for auction. From what I’ve been told, she’s currently spending the rest of her days inside a beautiful collection with other amazing cars. Thanks for reading!
