Honda brings its first concept car to Pebble Beach.

The 1984 Honda HP-X concept designed by Pininfarina has been restored and is ready to hit the lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

The car was so important to Honda that it was not only Honda's first concept car, but also laid the foundation for what would later become the first NSX.

By the early 1980s, Honda was ready for a breakthrough. The Japanese automaker had set its sights on exotic performance without sacrificing reliability, and with its entry into the Formula 1 championship in 1983, Honda had the money and ambition to launch a supercar that would rival the best in Europe.

What Honda needed was an exciting design, and for that they turned to Pininfarina. The exotic automaker named the HP-X, an acronym for "Honda Pininfarina eXperimental." This naming would also be used for the NSX, an acronym for "New Sportscar eXperimental."

The HP-X made its world debut at the 1984 Turin Motor Show, powered by a 2.0-liter V-6 engine appropriated from an F2 racing car and featuring a Perspex jet fighter-style canopy in place of conventional doors.

The concept was more than just a styling exercise. Honeycomb panels, carbon fiber, and Kevlar were used to reduce weight. Early GPS, real-time telemetry, and sonar-based road condition warning systems were also tested on this concept.

Honda further refined the design over the next decade, and a follow-up concept called the NS-X debuted at the 1989 Chicago Auto Show, followed by the production NSX the following year.

The HP-X will be unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours on August 18 in the wedge-shaped concept car and prototype classes. The Concours is the highlight of this year's Monterey Car Week, which runs from August 9 to 18.