This 350bhp Acura SLX proves anything can be restomodded

What we appear to have here is a blocky old SUV from the days before these things tried to resemble coupes and have eleventy-thousand horsepower. And the days before they were called SUVs, in fact, Back when they were practical above all else, with style sitting about 27th on their to-do-list.

What we actually have is a 1997 Acura SLX which has been given, somewhat astoundingly, the restomod treatment. It’s not, as your eyes may be telling you, an Isuzu Trooper, rather one of the myriad 4x4s built upon the same platform, much like the incredibly named Subaru Bighorn and Holden Jackaroo. Parts-sharing was rife here.

This is the Posh Honda version, which is good news, because it means Posh Honda itself has seen fit to rejuvenate the SLX’s innards by transplanting in the ‘Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive’ system similar to the one you’ll find beneath the latest NSX. Yikes.

Naturally it’s come from one of Acura’s modern-day SUVs rather than the NSX, but we’re delighted nonetheless. The old SLX’s 3.2-litre V6 (of just 190bhp when new) has also been swapped for a new 2.0-litre VTEC turbo with a healthy 350bhp, while its clunky old four-speed automatic has been replaced by a fancy new ten-speed equivalent. Just look at that 2019-vintage gear selector sitting in an otherwise period interior.

Indeed, Acura has left the inside largely alone, save for a welcome tidy up and a repainting in a gloriously Nineties colour scheme (Performance Red Pearl and Champagne Silver, FYI) intact. It’s a performance SUV clothed in a less abrasive body. We like it.

But are we right to? Or should restomodding be the exclusive reserve of old Porsches, Ferraris and the like?