New Honda Prelude Coming Soon: Specs, price and release info

Last sold here in 2001, the Honda Prelude was, over its five generations, a quirky coupe known for its spirit of technical innovation. Signatures like four-wheel steering and high-revving VTEC petrol engines were as popular with Honda’s traditionally older customer base and sage-like motoring journalist elders as they were gamers fuelled on long nights playing Gran Turismo, the return of the name on a sleek concept first shown last year in Tokyo therefore a cause of some excitement. That concept makes its European debut at the pending Goodwood Festival of Speed, the high-octane garden party that has, in effect, become the modern day British motor show in all but name. A production version is promised, and Honda has confirmed it will be sold here in Europe.
• Sporty looks with hybrid power celebrate Honda’s heritage with its ambitions for electrification • Still officially a concept at this stage, but it looks closer to reality than most design studies • No confirmation of what will power the new Prelude but we’d wager it’ll use a version of the hybrid system in the current Civic – no bad thing given it’s one of the most efficient in real-world driving scenarios • We’ll have to wait and see on performance as well and if not as hardcore as a Civic Type R we’d hope for enough pace to live up to the looks • Going by how close to a finished car this concept looks we’ll hope for more information soon • We’ll speculate the Prelude shares technical foundations with the Civic, hopefully meaning a price the right side of £50,000

Honda still says this is a concept but the absence of novelty doors and other gimmickry suggests to us the car you see here is pretty close to what we can expect from the production version. Let’s hope so at least, the sleek, coupe shape striking a fine balance between sporty intent and compact usability. In size and style it brings to mind the Toyota GR86, the Prelude’s promised hybrid powertrain hopefully giving it a longer shelf life than its purely petrol driven Japanese rival.

No pictures of the interior yet so another case of wait and see but if, as anticipated, the Prelude uses Civic foundations expect something similar. Which is to say more functional than flashy, Honda seemingly happier sticking with the buttons and physical controls than many rivals. Let’s hope that lives on in the Prelude.

Honda has always been an engineering-led company, and proud of going its own way with its technology. A hybrid pioneer, its original Insight coupe was – by its claim – the first mass-production hybrid car sold in Europe and this spirit lives on in the existing range. If, as we assume, the Prelude uses a version of the Civic’s clever and very efficient hybrid system it should drive well, though we’d hope the excitement has been dialled up a little given the sporty looks.

Another ‘watch this space’ on this one, but as we’ve said already the ‘concept’ looks suspiciously close to production ready so we may not be waiting too long for more.

In a world where SUVs and crossovers dominate and trad coupes like the Audi TT and aforementioned Toyota GR86 are fast disappearing it will be interesting to see if the Prelude spurs a new generation of sporty two-doors. True, we have a new Ford Capri coming and – back in the day – that was a similar format, if very different in character. Sadly for Ford fans this is another one reborn as a crossover rather than a coupe so we’ll have to see what else is coming. We wouldn’t complain if VW responded with an ID-based electric reinvention of the classic Scirocco, for instance…