August 26, 2016 – Everyone can dream, but it takes a special individual to make that dream come true. Bassam Assaf’s dream as a teenager was to own a Honda S2000. Fast forward to current day and you’ll discover that Bassam made his dream a reality by purchasing not just any S2000, but the very rare S2000CR.
“When it was first introduced, it was too much money for a Honda and I hated it, but it was really just like when you first meet a girl and hate her to the point where you actually end up falling in love with her.”
This is what Bassam had to say about his love story with the Honda S2000, but he didn’t stop there.
“When I finally got a job of my own, I began the search for an S2000, and my dad and everyone else kept telling me that there are better cars out there for that price. In reality, I wanted to buy this car in order to please myself, not to show off or please other people.”
Bassam, a 22-year-old classic car collector, was lucky enough to find a Honda S2000CR, of which only 699 copies exist worldwide. He owns #368, the only one in Lebanon and probably the Middle East, and says he will rack up as many miles on the car as he could.
“I will include it in every major event in my life and take pictures and make albums so that when I am old and have grandchildren, I can sit next to the car in the garage and show them pictures of it during the last 50 years of ownership.”
At the end of the S2000’s production in 2008, the company decided to honor the car and its head of performance engineer by launching the limited edition Honda S2000CR. CR stands for “Club Racer” and it basically is to the normal S2000 what the Porsche 911 GT3 RS is to a normal 911: a track-oriented sports car designed to be driven on the racing circuit and public roads.
The 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine revs up to 8000 RPM and is the most powerful naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine in the world, generating 237 horsepower. The S2000CR is equipped with a racing suspension and a more rigid body; it is also lighter than the standard S2000 and gets an aerodynamic package that reduces lift.
