Honda Prelude, the pleasant surprise of 2024?

In 2023, Honda unveiled its Concept Prelude twice at the Japan Mobility Show and at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The comeback is becoming clearer.

Following the reveals of the Honda NSX and Toyota Supra, and the announcement of a probable Toyota Celica, it is now Honda’s turn to revive one of its icons.

From 1978 to 2001, the Honda Prelude coupe brought joy to many drivers over a prolific career and five generations. Its simple and effective concept features a four-seat front-drive coupe with a front-mounted engine.

But at the beginning of the 21st century, the automotive market gradually shifted away from these pleasure cars toward the famous tall SUVs with ample interior space. The reason being a shift from passion to practicality, a recipe that thankfully seems to have faded!

According to Toshihiro Mibe, Honda’s CEO, the word Prelude means a “introductory or previous performance.” He leaves the interpretation very personal, but more wisely, he hopes this model will become the prelude to future models representing the “joy of driving” in an all-electric future.

The most interesting aspect of this concept car is that it’s easy to imagine it hitting the road next week. No designer exaggerations in this Prelude; we are looking at a production-ready vehicle. Honda also seems determined to give it a future, as its development is said to be ongoing to meet customer expectations. We know that this type of pleasure car is not intended for long-distance travel. A hybrid powertrain derived from that of the Civic could make it a lightweight, fun, and reasonably priced vehicle.

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