If you consider the HP-X (Honda Pininfarina Xperimental) concept car in 1984 as the starting point of the NSX, it took Honda 6 years to turn their vision into reality. Perfection takes time, but it were those long years of development, testing, and even failures that would help to define the NSX as an engineering icon.

In this video flashback from the late ’80s, legendary Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna takes an NSX prototype around Suzuka Circuit for testing. His direct input and collaboration with Honda engineers would eventually help to fine-tune the NSX’s driving characteristics to perfection.

Watch the 4:46-minute clip below: