Don’t you just hate it when you say – or in my case write – something and then regret it a few weeks later? I’m sure avid readers noticed a lack of an update in last month’s Fast Fleet. The reason is simple, and one which I’m sure you’ll understand, given that I was fighting a bout of depression, brought on by some recent mishaps.

Two months ago I wrote about how the minor annoyances of the NSX are easily forgiven once you are on the road. But what if those annoyances continue on the road? That’s what I experienced a few weeks ago on one autumn evening.

Traffic was fine and the night was young. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the beloved NSX. As I approached the Za’abeel junction, heading up to Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, the engine warning light rudely reared its face, accompanied by a drop of revs. Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone. Then it reappeared. This continued for a few kilometres with the car ‘hiccupping’ along. This was not good and I decided to turn around at the next junction. I couldn’t even pull that off before the car stalled and died on me. Restarting it, the ‘hiccupping’ continued and with revs at a standstill, the car would start and stall. Could the wiring have decided to cross-connect again as it had done before?

A slow crawl onto the back of the truck 20 minutes later (after being stuck by the side of the road), and the Japanese sports car was off to the garage.

It turned out that the wiring gremlins had indeed decided to find their way back into the car. Obviously, because it’s a twenty-year old car, things like this will happen once in a while. You can’t help but hold your heart in your lap every time they do, though. As I took the NSX back out on the road, I forgave it its gremlins, because I think it’s the spiritual predecessor to the Audi R8: mid-engined and a work of sheer beauty.

It has treated me well for almost six months so I have no complaints now that everything has been sorted – and without emptying the wallet to boot. Now let’s see if it’ll last a year without any issues. Fingers crossed.