Michelle Christensen is a U.S. car designer. She was Acura's first female exterior designer. [1] Since 2005 Christensen has worked for Acura and was the lead designer of the second generation Honda NSX.
Christensen grew up in San Jose, California. She learned about the mechanics of cars from her father, who was into hot rods and muscle cars. [1] In school she developed an interest in drawing and fine art and at community college she learned about car design and went on to study at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. [2] [3] Christensen said that car design is the ideal blend of her passions, "art, cars, and making things for people." [4]
Christensen undertook an internship at Volvo's Camarillo studio in California before joining Acura in 2005. [1] She briefly worked for General Motors in 2010 [5] before returning to Acura as Lead Principal Designer at Honda R&D. The 2016 Honda NSX was her first project as the lead designer. [6] Christensen received the Woman on Top award from Marie Claire magazine. [1]
In 2018, Christensen worked briefly at Faraday Future and then was appointed Senior Manager of Design with Nissan Design America [7]
She is vice-president of design for Karma Automotive. [8]
Acura is the luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America. The brand was launched on March 27, 1986, marketing luxury and performance automobiles. Acura sells cars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, and Kuwait. The company has also previously sold cars in China, Hong Kong, Russia, and Ukraine. Plans to introduce Acura to the Japanese domestic market in the late 2000s did not eventuate due to the financial crisis of 2007–2008.
A supercar – also called exotic car – is loosely defined or described as a street-legal, superlative performance sports car – both in terms of power, speed, and handling. The term 'supercar' is therefore frequently used for low-bodied sportscars with powerful, rear mid-mounted engines. Since the 2000s, the term hypercar has also come into use for the most high-end performance cars.
The Acura TSX is a compact executive car manufactured by Honda and sold through its Acura division from 2003 to 2014. The TSX spanned two generations, both derived from the corresponding Japanese/European versions of the Honda Accord, which were more compact and sporting-oriented than its larger North American counterpart, the latter platform which also used for the Acura TL which slotted above the TSX in Acura's lineup. All TSXs were built in Sayama, Saitama, Japan.
The Honda NSX, marketed in North America as the Acura NSX, is a two-seater, mid-engined coupe sports car manufactured by Honda.
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Honda's first production V6 was the C series; it was produced in displacements from 2.0 to 3.5 liters. The C engine was produced in various forms for over 20 years (1985–2005), having first been used in the KA series Legend model, and its British sister car the Rover 800-series.
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The Acura ZDX is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV with a sloping rear roofline developed by Honda for its upmarket brand Acura. The car was originally planned to be called the "MSX". The ZDX debuted at the 2009 New York International Auto Show on April 8, 2009, as a 2010 model. The vehicle was also the first to be completely designed at Acura's southern California design studio in Torrance.
The Honda Crosstour is a mid-size crossover SUV with a sloping rear roofline manufactured by Japanese automaker Honda. It is based on the North American eighth-generation Accord. Sales began in November 2009 for the 2010 model year and were discontinued after the 2015 model year due to slow sales.
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The Acura RLX is a mid-size flagship luxury car manufactured by Honda and sold under their Acura division, released in 2013, succeeding the RL. The RLX was discontinued in 2020.
The Acura TLX is a four-door entry-level luxury sedan sold by Acura, a luxury division of Honda, since 2014. It is the successor to both the TL and TSX models. As of 2021, the discontinuation of the RLX leaves the TLX as the flagship sedan in Acura's lineup.
The second-generation Honda NSX, marketed as the Acura NSX in North America, China and Kuwait, is a two-seater, all-wheel drive, mid-engine hybrid electric sports car developed and manufactured by Honda. The car was developed in collaboration between the company's divisions in Japan and the United States, and all models were hand-built at a dedicated factory in Ohio. Production began in 2016 and ended in 2022 with the Type S variant. It succeeds the first-generation NSX that was produced in Japan from 1990 to 2005. The development team had a goal of making the car suit a wide range of driving conditions, from high-performance driving on winding roads and racetracks to more relaxed street driving.
The first generation Honda NSX, marketed in North America and Hong Kong as the Acura NSX, is a 2-seater, mid-engine sports car that was manufactured by Honda in Japan from 1990 until 2005.
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