We’ve often wanted to walk up to some of our older members and go “Yo, what up, OG? What’s good in tha hood?” Some of them would be puzzled but others would nod knowingly and, with a wink, point to their S2000. “OG” per Urban Dictionary means Original Gangster and, for purpose of this text, refers to those of us who were lucky to have purchased our S2000s brand new.
There is nothing different in terms of the love and affection for the car between someone who has bought used versus brand new. As a matter of fact, there are several owners who have given new leases of life to used and abused S2000s. With that said, there definitely must be something special about purchasing an S2000 brand new. Think about it, the paint is factory fresh, the odometer has a single digit reading, the engine bay is clean and the tires are a glossy black with full tread.
Nearly every mile on the car is your own and, as such, the car holds no mysteries (unless you still haven’t figured out the location of the secret compartment). Every rattle, tear, modification as well as road behavior is second nature to you. Every badge from every event that you and the car have attended is proudly displayed and there is a sense of camaraderie established between owner and machine. Often times the car also strikes up a bond with significant others and family members who can’t bear for the car to be sold.
Original owners often recall vividly the details of how they came upon the S2000 and made it their own – the haggling with the sales staff, paying a premium, or being forced to purchase the car with accessories. All of these make for very interesting stories and are a part of the legend and folklore surrounding the S2000.
With the goal of getting an estimate on the number of original owners still active, our member NDAZONE started a thread in S2000 Talk. In his own words “The S2000 has now been off the market for 1.5 years. How many of us original owners are still active? I am particularly curious about the early model years.” There is also a badge that is available for all those who purchased their S brand new and are still around. So without further ado, follow the link below and post up your information.
If you are an Original Gangster, then you have a part to play in keeping the thread active so that those of us not fortunate enough to purchase brand new, may experience the thrill vicariously.
Also owners new and used, please sign up for the S2000 Registry, if you haven’t already.
Images courtesy of Triple-H and twohoos
Related posts:
- Know Any Celebrity S2000 Owners? The word “celebrity” typically conjures up images of bling, substance...
- What is Your Unicorn? Urban Dictionary contains several connotations that modern society has attached...
on Jul 25th, 2011 at 6:45 am
**Hand raised** and proud of it.
on Jul 25th, 2011 at 9:34 am
I was 15 when the S2000 was first produced…
on Jul 25th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
@ConanO’Brien
Everyone knows you drive a Ford Taurus.
on Jul 25th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
Made a special order back in Sept 2001. Even had the choice of what color to go with, Gran Prix White.
Added only the Modulo OEM front lip at purchase.
And she’s still a rush even after 4 exhausts later, heh heh.
-Jeremy
on Jul 25th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
Brought my 06 from super honda of lisle, yellow one, end up getting silverstone with red / black interior.. the yellow one they try to sell me have body damage and seat cover damage, and lie to me that is a demo.. until I check the body and see paint overspray.
on Jul 25th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
@SteveC
SHO. A ford taurus SHO…with the rare wasp nest accessory.
on Jul 25th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
I remember seeing the S2000 for the first time back in Oct/Nov 2000: 2 were parked in the dirt lot behind Rock Honda in SoCal wrapped up like the one above. $39,995.00!!! I also remember thinking, “I’ll never own one of these!”
on Jul 26th, 2011 at 5:29 am
is it a coincidence that all images on this article are AP1′s?
on Jul 26th, 2011 at 10:19 am
jejeje…great thread! I guess I can call myself an “OG” than. Proud owner of a 2007 LBP from 0006 miles on the odometer. Purchased May 5th, 2006. My local “stealership” did not “allow” me to drive the car for a “test drive”. I had to sit 4 hours until all the paperwork was done, gave a $4K down payment + my Civic.
Upon completion of the “deal”, they cleaned up my baby and allowed me to drive it out of the “stealership” to the asphalt. Never did understand why they did not allow me to test drive the car, but I waited patiently those 4 hours to make my S my own.
Proud “OG” of a car destined to be a legend.
on Jul 26th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
#3 out of the dealership first Silver/Red combo to leave. #3205 off the line destined for the states.
Took delivery November 18th 1999. Forced to purchase the spoiler(never installed) and the CD Disk Changer(pre-installed) which I then removed…..leaving holes in my trunk liner.
Paid MSRP plus 100K warranty(which paid for itself a few times over). Both worth every penny!!!
on Jul 26th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Yo dogz, waz up?
Purchased my ’02 in October of ’02. One of three left on the dealer’s lot as winter came a knockin’ Got a nice deal that time of year. My tenth anniversarry with the car is next year. 38,800 miles and they are all mine.
By the way, Modifries glove box organizer is still the best mod eva!
on Jul 26th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
Bought in April of 2000, flew from il to new jersey to get at sticker price. Local area wanted 5000 over list, what a joke. Nice 1100 miles drive home, got sunburnt on the way.
on Jul 26th, 2011 at 7:49 pm
Forgot, Stopped at the local dealership on the way home to say hello to the sales persons I was trying to work with. Actually just bought a car from him 11 years later at another dealership for my daughter.
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 5:55 am
Lucky for y’all OG’s owner. Because of the cost of insurance both of MY02 and MY03 are used, but when I got MY03 back in 2006 it only have 5008 miles on the clock now after 5 yrs MY03 got 8825 miles.
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 7:07 am
I remeber not being forced to pay for accesories, not being able to haggle or test drive even though it had 700km on it from the owner of the dealership.
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 8:26 am
bought one brand new from dealership in 2008 after a truck totalled my previous pre-owned S2k.
Had to wait an incredible 5 months for it to be delivered from Japan.
Wait was agonizing but when i collected, pure heaven… salesman even left all the plastic wrap on the car for me to remove personally.
Following few weeks was tough as i wanted to run the engine in so no vtec zone.
But a 9k redline is oh soooo enticing….
Oh yeah, i paid USD110,000 for it…
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 9:48 am
I ordered mine in August of 2000. It arrived mid December 2001. I had to pay $2,500 over msrp, which still chaps my arse.
I love the car but it spent it’s early years as garage eye candy. It only has 41,000 miles, and this is the year that I will most likely sell it.
I have two vehicles and really only need one. The S2000 isn’t the most practical car so it will need to go away.
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Proud owner of 07 GPW/REd-Black! Bought it July – 06. Never look back! Still my daily driver. <3
on Aug 1st, 2011 at 3:29 pm
bought mine in may of 06 berlina black cause i read in a blog it was going to be the last year, not. she arrived a week before i bought it and wasn’t inspected yet by the dealer and she still had the wrapping from shipping. it had 2 miles and now she has over 86k 5 years later and still loving every mile of it.
when i don’t drive her for a few days cause she needs some days off too, i get all giddy inside knowing i get to drive her again. i guess that’s why my wife is always jealous…
on Aug 2nd, 2011 at 10:09 am
Both my 2001 and 2005 S2000s were purchased new by me. The 05 came with the factory hardtop as a condition of sale, I added the OEM hardtop to my 01 in 2006. My 01 had 12 miles on the odo and the 05 had 9 miles when I bought them. The 01 has a little over 21,000 miles at this time and the 05 just over 23,000. Never going to sell them. They will both go to a museum one day.
on Aug 21st, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Bought new Sebring/blk in May ’04 at Nelson (now Spirit) Honda in El Monte. Daily driver with 125,000 miles. Never gets old.