The custom Acura roadster that Robert Downey Jr. drove as Tony Stark in the closing scene of Marvel's 2012 film The Avengers is heading to auction, with the winning bid donated entirely to a charity chosen by the buyer. The one-of-a-kind car, built on a 1991 Acura NSX that had racked up about 252,000 miles before its transformation, will go live on the Cars & Bids platform on October 17 and close on October 31 during the Las Vegas Concours.
As reported by WFTV, only verified Cars & Bids account holders can bid, and the auction opens alongside the Willow Springs Reimagined event. Beyond the proceeds going to the winning bidder's chosen cause, Acura separately announced in January that it would make an additional guaranteed contribution to the Sundance Institute to support independent filmmakers, according to Honda Newsroom. That dual-charity approach was unveiled while the car was being previewed at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City.
A Tight Three-Month Build Under Marvel's Deadline
The sci-fi-looking roadster started life as an ordinary first-generation NSX before Acura's Los Angeles design studio, led by then-Creative Director Dave Marek, took on the job of turning it into Tony Stark's ride. Per the seed reporting from WFTV, Marek's team designed the vehicle under a commercial licensing deal with Marvel Studios. Honda Newsroom's background on the project notes that Acura has maintained a 16-year run as a Presenting Sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival.
The design team created a functional hero car. The outlet notes that designers specifically picked a high-mileage 1991 NSX for the conversion because of the model's reputation for mechanical reliability on set, a reflection of Acura's own statement that the car needed to be dependable enough for filming.
Fabricating a Movie Prop From a High-Mileage Donor Car
Specialized fabricator Trans FX, based in California, handled the physical transformation, fitting a handcrafted resin-and-fiberglass body.
WFTV's reporting lists the finished build's specs: a two-inch suspension drop, 18-inch wheels, aftermarket seats, and the Stark 33 license plate, with styling inspired by the second-generation NSX concept that previewed Acura's later production model. Underneath that custom shell, the car retains its original 1991 drivetrain — a 3.0-liter naturally aspirated V6 making roughly 270 horsepower paired with a five-speed manual transmission, MotorBiscuit reports.
A Fragile Prop, Not a Street-Legal Performer
Acura asked test drivers to stay under 20 mph.
The roadster appeared in the film's final scene. The Acura NSX was created to replace Tony Stark's Audi R8 in the 2012 movie.
From Hidden Storage to the Auction Block
The NSX roadster sat out of the public eye for more than a decade, per WFTV's reporting, before Acura brought it back into view during Monterey Car Week in 2025.
The donor NSX has an aluminum structure beneath the fiberglass shell.
Where the Bidding Will Happen
The auction itself runs through Cars & Bids, a platform co-founded in 2020 by automotive journalist Doug DeMuro and Blake Machado. By early 2023, the site had completed more than 10,000 auctions worth over $230 million and had secured $37 million in funding from The Chernin Group, according to The Drive. The platform focuses on modern enthusiast vehicles from the 1980s to the present, making the hand-built Stark roadster a fitting, if unusual, entry for its lineup.
