Racy Honda Prelude coupe returns as hybrid
By HENRY PAYNE
The Detroit News (TNS)
The sporty Honda Prelude is back.
The Japanese automaker announced the return of the iconic two-door coupe to North America with a concept that closely resembles production plans. The Prelude is scheduled to join the brand’s lineup late next year as a 2026 model. Prelude _rst washed up on U.S. shores in 1979 and was discontinued in 2001 after a _ve-generation run and a string of Car and Driver 10 Best Cars awards.
Honda says it will lean into the Prelude’s history of edgy handling by bringing the “joy of driving” into the electri_ed future. The sixth-generation will feature a hybrid engine as Honda embarks on a journey to go all-electric by 2040. Expect a $31,000$38,000 hybrid Prelude to complement the $31,000, stick-shift, 2.0-liter, gas-powered, turbo-4 Civic Si sedan that was updated this year.
Honda teased the Prelude Concept – without offering any details – at the 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show following its global debut at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show.
“The return of the Honda Prelude as a hybrid-electric sports model demonstrates our continued commitment to offer a variety of exhilarating products to meet the needs of our customers,” said Honda Auto Sales Assistant Vice President Jessika Laudermilk. “The _rst three products in the Honda lineup in the 1970s were Civic, Accord and Prelude, and soon all three will be back together again in our passenger car lineup as hybrids.”
While details on its hybrid powertrain are still to come, Prelude will likely host a version of the gas-electric system found in sedan siblings Accord and Civic. The latter compact sedan is a _nalist for North American Car of the Year and makes an impressive 200 horsepower – equal to the sporty, manual Si.
To differentiate it from its front-wheeldrive Civic brothers, Prelude may jack up the horsepower number and even add allwheel- drive to the mix. Past generations of the Prelude offered automatic and stickshift transmissions. Don’t expect the latter this go ‘round, but Honda does promise the debut of its “S+ Shift” feature that it says “further advances Linear Shift Control to deliver maximum levels of driver engagement, in keeping with the heritage of the Prelude line.”
A favorite of enthusiasts, Preludes have been a been a test bed for innovative Honda technologies including four-wheel steering and torque vectoring.
The Prelude announcement is timed with the 25th anniversary of Honda’s _rst hybrid-electric model in the U.S., the Insight. Honda sees hybrids as a bridge to EVs and Prelude signals a sporty future compared to the Insight’s more pedestrian performance numbers.
Hybrids make up over a quarter of the brand’s total sales while 50 percent of Accord and CR-V sales are gas-electric powertrains. The Civic hybrid is expected to represent about 40 percent of the compact car’s sales.
Honda unveiled its _rst EV concepts – the Saloon and the Space-Hub – at CES earlier this year. A production model of the Saloon, the agship model of its socalled 0 Series EV lineup, is planned for 2026 introduction and will be built in Ohio based on Honda’s own EV platform.
Honda did not announce where the Prelude will be assembled, but it likely will share production with the Civic, which is made in Indian and Ontario. In 2023, more than 99 percent of all Honda vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America – two-thirds of them in the U.S.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News.
The Honda Prelude Concept at the 2024 LA Auto Show.
Henry Payne / The Detroit News / TNS
