1991 Acura NSX Luggage Test: Will a Motocompacto fit in the trunk?

I know I know, the wait has been killing you. From the second the Honda Motocompacto electric scooter/suitcase was introduced, you’ve desperately been begging the universe to answer the following question: “Will the Honda Motocompacto fit in the trunk of a 1991 Acura NSX?”

Believe me, the suspense was killing me, too. Well, rest assured, your answer is finally here.

I stumbled upon old friend Tyson Hugie and his predictably pristine 1991 Acura NSX at Radwood Socal two weekends ago. While chatting about my/his old Acura TSX finding a new home with a collector in North Carolina, a gentleman on a Honda Motocompacto whizzed by and finally pulled up to a stop among the small group of people gathered around the NSX and an Integra Type R. We initially thought it had been brought by the Honda PR rep who was attending Radwood (he did in fact have one in his trunk, an Acura 2.3 CL), but it actually belonged to the person riding it.

Patrick Vidal had only just got his Motocompacto the previous Monday, but had already put it to work as his last-mile transport. He says it fits behind his seat in his Toyota MR2 Spyder, as if this story couldn’t get more rad. As I stood there with Tyson and Patrick chatting about life with Honda’s latest creation, I started staring at the back end of Honda’s finest creation. Then I looked back at the Motocompacto … and back again at the NSX.

“Um, do you think that would fit in the NSX’s trunk?” I asked, turning to Tyson.

“Oh, that’s happening,” he quickly replied.

We asked Patrick if he’d be game, and no shocker, he was. Tyson cleared out the trunk and Patrick started the process of transforming the Motocompacto from a scooter into luggage.

The transformation is certainly not a seamless process. There’s lots of steps, and Patrick said that he’s still getting the hang of remembering all the bits and pieces. Again, though, he’d only had the thing for five days.

Initially, I doubted the Motocompacto would fit, but as it got smaller and NSX trunk got emptier, I got a lot more confident.

“OK, let’s do this,” said Mr. Luggage Test, rubbing his hands together.

Officially, the 1991 Acura NSX was listed as having 5 cubic-feet of trunk volume. That’s actually the same as my 1998 BMW Z3’s trunk, but when you’re talking about such a small amount, the shape of the space really matters and in this case, the NSX trunk is basically a big rectangular cavity with a protrusion from the engine bay.

OK, let’s get to the bags. I mean Motocompacto. As with every Motocompacto Luggage Test I do, I used one Honda Motocompacto (29.2 inches long by 21.1 inches tall by 3.7 inches wide).