Yahoo Autos Honda Confirms the Return of the Prelude
For the first time in ages, fans of the long-defunct sport compact segment have reason to rejoice: Honda has officially announced that the beloved Prelude will be returning to production in the next few years, with the finished product bearing a striking resemblance to the Prelude concept car that wowed us last year. Here's everything we know about the revived fan favorite.
According to the automaker, the Prelude is set to return as a two-door based on the Civic platform. While Honda hasn't been too forthcoming with information thus far, the car is expected to carry the European Civic’s e:HEV hybrid powertrain for that market. The setup combines a 2.0-liter four pot with a pair of electric motors to provide 181 horsepower. In the States, that figure jumps to 200 hp.
Of course, the Civic is host to a number of powertrains, leaving the possibility open for a more hardcore Prelude variant. There’s even some heritage to lean on in this instance, with the Japanese market Prelude Type S remaining a sought after car to this day. (Sticking a Civic Type R powertrain in as mall coupe sure sounds like a winning formula to us.)
The first Prelude arrived for the Japanese market back in 1978, making its global debut just a year later. The Prelude would age into a star of the sport compact segment, despite early underpinnings aped straight from the Accord; unfortunately, sales eventually began to flag, and it left the U.S. market at the end of the fifth generation model line in 2001. All was quiet on the Prelude front until 2023, when Honda unveiled a new concept using the nameplate at the Japan Mobility Show.
Honda plans to use the Prelude as a halo car for its electrified products, with this year marking the 25th anniversary of the brand’s hybrids. The concept’s streamlined bodywork aims to make the most of those efficient powertrains, while also capturing the younger buyers once attracted to the sport compact segment. Assuming the brand can get the pricing right, it seems like a worthwhile endeavor... especially if it benefits from one of Honda’s sublime manual gearboxes.
Honda hasn’t released a specific timeline related to the Prelude’s European debut, only saying it will reach the Continent in the "mid-2020s," nor has it confirmed an arrival for the U.S. market. That said, we'd be shocked (and maybe a little offended) if it didn't make its way over to the United States. What would you most like to see from a reborn Prelude? Let us know down below.
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