tonight, as monterey car week warms up ahead of a busy weekend, acura dropped a surprise announcement we're thrilled to hear: the integra is coming back in 2022.
"the integra is back," jon ikeda, vice president of acura, said in a statement released late thursday night. "i’m thrilled to say integra is returning to the acura lineup with the same fun-to-drive spirit and dna of the original, fulfilling our commitment to precision crafted performance in every way—design, performance and the overall driving experience."
acura made the announcement to a gathering of journalists attending monterey car week, revealing the news via skywriting drones, as roadshow's daniel golson shows here:
the announcement was accompanied by a teaser video that acura posted to instagram:
acura didn't share any details about the upcoming integra beyond the promised 2022 production date. but the signs all point to a faithful and fitting new addition to integra history: the vehicle silhouette illustrated in acura's nighttime drone show certainly looks like a compact 2-door hatchback, as seen in images tweeted by automotive journalist kurt bradley:
and a collection of speculative renderings and test-mule spy photos posted to instagram earlier this week by @1320video seem to show a prototype that fits the compact fastback shape we'll always associate with the integra name (spy photos on 2nd and 3rd slides):
we're hopeful that the new integra will stick close to the nameplate's roots as an affordable and gleeful sports compact car. after all, the second-generation integra was a generation-defining machine, especially in type r form. honda already has some great four-cylinder engines and manual transmissions in its parts bin—hello, civic type r—and while the brand certainly went through a recent period where it struggled to identify itself, the most recent crop of acura vehicles has been mighty impressive.
if acura can bring back the integra as a modernized and refined sport compact that recaptures the magic of the late-nineties icon we loved, we're sure it will be a hit.
from: road & track