ILX

Make
Acura
Segment
Sedan

While the Acura Legend is long gone, every now and then we hear a rumor of a potential nameplate return. In the meantime, Acura has been working extremely hard over the past few years to revive its reputation as a performance brand building fun-to-drive cars. The Legend's first successor, the RL, was quite bland in comparison. Hopefully, those days are finished. Today, the Acura ILX remains nearly in a class all by itself: the affordable luxury compact sedan. Heck, it can even be had with a manual. Unfortunately, Acura no longer builds a coupe. The Acura NSX doesn't directly count because it's a high-performance sports car.

But the Acura Legend still remains, well, a legend. The first generation launched way back in 1985 and was classified as a mid-size luxury car. It didn't arrive in the US until the following year, but it immediately became a success not only among buyers but also automotive publications.

Car and Driver deemed it one of its best driving cars for three years in a row. Motor Trend, meanwhile, named it as Import Car of the Year for 1987. The fact that it was offered as both a coupe and a sedan broadened its appeal. Remember, this was before crossovers arrived and coupes and sedans still dominated. In 1990, the second-generation Legend arrived, surpassing its predecessor in every way. It also retained a naturally aspirated V6 though it increased in size and power. Instead of the previous 2.5- or 2.7-liter V6, the second-gen Legend came equipped with a 3.2-liter V6, good for 200 horsepower. This V6 also introduced Honda's VTEC technology. A five-speed manual was standard and a four-speed automatic was optional.

Not only this, but the new Legend was bigger and better-looking than before thanks to a more streamlined design.

In addition, it came packed with a ton of features a majority of cars at the time lacked. These included dual airbags, speed-sensitive steering, hands-free phone, heated leather seats, automatic climate control, and four-wheel ABS brakes. Yes, all of these features were available in a car that's now 30 years old. Impressive. This generation Legend was so successful that, combined with the also discontinued Integra, Acura managed to outsell rivals from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Today, it's hard to find a second-gen Legend coupe or sedan in stock condition but, lo and behold, we found one.

This 1991 Acura Legend Coupe is currently up for sale on Craigslist by West Coast Classics. The asking price is a very reasonable $11,500. It has only 64,000 miles boasting the original "Golden Glow Pearl" exterior and a tan leather interior. The sellers further claim this Legend coupe has no mechanical issues or accidents. There are a few minor age-related blemishes but that's to be expected. Given its overall amazing condition and price tag, don't expect this Japanese luxury coupe classic to last for long.