IN the 1980s Japan was really going places in terms of car design, a case proven without doubt by the amazing Honda NSX supercar.

The NSX made a categorical statement that Italy had most definitely not got it all its own way at the top end of the sports car market.

The rear-wheel-drive two-seater was the first car from Honda with an all-aluminium body.

Powered by a very lively all-aluminium V6 engine it featured Honda's  VTEC (Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control) system developed in the 1980s.

The NSX rapidly gained a reputation as a practical and very reliable supercar, being manufactured in Japan from 1990 to 2005 before being discontinued.

With the NSX name being revived this year it is perhaps timely to look back on the original which proved once and for all that Japan was serious about performance engineering and design.

It all started with the Pininfarina-designed HP-X experimental supercar which, according Honda bosses had to be as fast as anything coming out of Germany and Italy.

And so the NSX was developed. The NS bit stood for New Sportscar and the X for the unknown world, X being a common mathematical variable referring to an unknown value.

The NSX prototype and eventual production model were designed by a team led by chief designer Ken Okuvama and executive chief engineer Shigeru Uehara.

The NSX had to meet the performance of the equivalent Ferrari which was the 328, later to become the 348. To this end the development car's 2.0-litre V6 was replaced by the more powerful 3.0L VTEC.

The F16 jet fighter came into play as a role model for 360 degree visibility and aspects of design. Like the F16 the NS-X's cockpit was located as far forwards as possible and ahead of the mid-mounted engine.

The long tail design gave enhanced high-speed directional stability.

I remember this car was a real eye-opener. Unlike some supercars it took speed bumps in its stride and had no highly-strung bad habits. In fact it was very docile - until you stepped on the gas.

The all-aluminium monocoque body incorporated a revolutionary extruded aluminium frame which helped to save nearly 200kg in weight. With four-channel anti-lock brakes this car soon became renowned for punching above its weight in terms of design.

It terms of handling, a suspension compliance pivot helped maintain wheel alignment changes at a near zero value.

And like the F16 this car featured a fly-by-wire electric throttle, another pointer to the future of performance design.

The production car made its first public appearances in 1989 and received rave reviews.

It supplanted the Honda Prelude as the flagship model and began its crusade of giving the Honda image a high-powered boost.

The original NSX which had over 160mph in its sights with a 0-60mph zoom factor of 7.3 seconds is now something of a rare sight on the UK's roads but it stands firm as the car which put Japan on the supercar map.