Teased/Leaked: 2011 Acura MSX

TORRANCE, California — Acura apparently had a well-defined plan to release a different teaser image each day this week of its new Crossover Concept, due to be publicly unveiled next month at the 2009 New York Auto Show.

Honda's premium brand dutifully placed a darkly lit overhead shot of the vehicle on the Acura.com Web site on Monday and released the shot to the press with no further details. It didn't take long for several enterprising sites, notably Temple of VTEC and Acurazine, to come up with four more images slotted to be released by Acura from Tuesday through Friday.

Although official details are scant, the online buzz identifies the quad-coupe crossover concept as the 2011 Acura MSX. An upscale companion to the more traditional MDX four-door, the MSX adopts a coupe-like roof line and is said to be aimed squarely at the BMW X6 and the Infiniti FX. The teaser shots clearly show a second, semi-concealed set of door handles and a sharply sloping roof line.

Less certain is the powertrain, which could be a more powerful version of Acura's 300-horsepower 3.7-liter V6 or possibly the first showing of the long-rumored Acura V8. Also fingered for introduction in the MSX is a new six-speed automatic transmission.

Additional rumors concern the vehicle's upscale interior, low production volume and relatively high sticker price — said to fall between $42,000 and $49,000, or right on top of the MDX.

Acura issued no official statement regarding the image. But when contacted by Inside Line, Honda spokesman Chuck Schifsky said in an e-mail: "We thought you'd like a preview look at an upcoming new Acura. Stay tuned as more info will be available at a later date. By the way — it is not the next MDX." He said he couldn't "confirm or deny" that [the vehicle] would be at the 2009 New York Auto Show "at this point."

Inside Line says: After months of viewing grainy spy photographs of heavily camouflaged prototypes testing in Death Valley and at the Nürburgring, it's refreshing to get even a slight glimpse of the actual sheetmetal on the new Acura. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent