I don’t know precisely when it happened, but the Acura Integra Type R has become the bellwether and poster child for controversially valued modern enthusiast classics. My friend Caleb wrote about one with fewer than 2,000 miles on the odometer that sold for $63,800 back in 2018. That may have seemed like a lot back then, but the Gran Turismo staple has, regrettably, more than kept up with inflation. Today, a Phoenix Yellow example from 2001 with 4,800 recorded miles sold on Bring a Trailer for $204,204.
This vehicle was one of 1,173 supposedly built for U.S. sale for its model year. It is absolutely pristine as you’d expect; a totally unmodified coupe with 25-year-old tires belonging to the RealTime Collection Hall, which may, in part, explain the astronomical sale price. Peter Cunningham’s RealTime Racing famously dominated North American touring car competition with these, and if anyone knows how special the Integra Type R can be, that’s the crew.
Like all American Integra Type Rs, the high-revving 1.8-liter four-cylinder in this one makes 195 horsepower and 130 lb-ft of torque, and is connected to a five-speed manual. When new, this car cost $24,930, equivalent to $45,176 today. That inflation adjustment actually maps shockingly well onto a new Civic Type R, which will set you back no less than $47,045 in 2025 dollars. And you could afford four of those for what this Integra’s third owner has paid for this car.
Everything that could be said about this phenomenon of working-class performance cars encased in amber, trading hands for 911 Turbo figures, has pretty much been said before. Some will bemoan it. Others will take no position, throw their hands up, and say the market sets the value. And others still in the comments section will celebrate it, because they already own one or three.
The Integra Type R deserves its vaunted status, as those lucky enough to have driven one would agree. A 2,400-pound curb weight, 8,400-rpm redline, and the front-wheel-drive chassis to which all will forever be compared will earn you that distinction. Everyone’s got their line, though. If you asked me seven years ago what mine was, it’s fair to assume it would have been lower than $63,000. But now, after this? $63K looks like a pretty good deal, and that’s how a line gets moved. I would only spend that on a Japanese one with the better headlights, though.
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Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
