Honda OSM: Lightweight Fun with the Environment in Mind

This sleek two-seat roadster is a new concept car that Honda will be

showing off in

London, England this summer at the country's national

motor show. It's called the OSM, which is short for Open Study Model,

and is being pegged as a lightweight sports car that has a green

conscience.

The

OSM sketch shows a neat looking vehicle that's a bit of a departure in terms of

styling compared to other current Honda products. The nose, in

particular, features a broader, low-mounted six-sided grille which is

actually very similar to that featured in Honda's other recent green

sports car concept, the CR-Z. The new concept was penned in Germany, at Honda's

Offenbach studios, rather than in Japan.

Although

no technical details about the car have been released, such as its

configuration (front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, Super-Handling all

wheel drive) or what kind of motor will be powering it (diesel, hybrid,

range-extended plug-in hybrid), what we do know is that it will be

environmentally friendly, specifically designed to reduce fuel

consumption and emissions without losing the fun to drive nature of a

roadster.

The one thing that Honda will say about the OSM is that it's merely a concept car for now, and

has not been confirmed for production. A spokesperson from Honda

furthered that note by stating that even though it's the right look,

the right number of seats and is a convertible, the OSM is not a

preview to the successor of the S2000 performance roadster. We'll see about that.