Honda Motor Co. will soon learn whether giving a designer with no engineering experience five years to develop a sports car is pure genius or plain madness.

The automaker said Monday that it will begin selling its first sporty two-seat convertible minicar in 19 years.

Honda said the S660, a kei-class (subcompact) car, was developed by a team led by Ryo Mukumoto, a 26-year-old engineer at subsidiary Honda R&D Co.