This is the new Honda Prelude, a coupe with a famous name from the past that Honda hopes will buck the SUV trend and make the world fall in love with small sports cars again. The Prelude was initially revealed as a near-production concept at the 2023 Tokyo motor show but now been given the chance to see it up close and discover more of its secrets from some of the team responsible for its development.
Before we get into the details, a question: How do you successfully build and sell an affordable volume sports car in an age of SUV obsession and ever tougher safety regulations? Some brave companies have found ways – think Toyota with the GR86 or BMW and its 2 Series – but these either rely on technology already in volume production or, in Toyota’s case, settle for a product with a shorter-than-ideal lifespan.
For the development of the new Prelude coupe, neither of these avenues was available to Honda. The result is a particularly ambitious car that doesn’t just renew a much-loved nameplate, it could kick off a new era of small, efficient, engaging hybrid sports cars.
When quizzed about what sort of sports car the Honda Prelude aims to be, chief engineer and project lead Tomoyuki Yamagami told us: “The grand concept of this car was to be like a glider. Gliders have two different characteristics. On one hand, they’re designed to glide for as long as possible, but on the other hand they’re used for stunt flights and need to be agile and high performing. These two characters are also unified in this car to be efficient on one hand, as you can see from the design, but also very agile and joyful on the other.”
Design details
In the flesh, the Honda Prelude’s sleek yet slightly generic front-wheel-drive proportions look tighter and more dramatic than in pictures. There’s a wide stance at the front, plus a low scuttle and sleek lighting units that make a good first impression.