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Give Us the 20 Years Old Honda Prelude Back
Year 1996: if at the time they had told us that the one just presented would have been the last incarnation of the Honda Prelude we would have really had a hard time believing it. The Japanese coupe did not follow the lines of the previous generation for the simple reason that it had adopted a set of square and ruler. Clean cuts, more squared light clusters did not imply, however, the abandonment of an unmistakable look, that of a sports car suitable for a wider use than for example that allowed by the Civic Type-R hatchback.
Fascinating but also practical, as can be appreciated from a modern passenger compartment that however was essentially aimed at only two people. What really mattered was under the hood, a 2.2-liter V-TEC ready to deliver 200 horsepower, or 185 in the variant destined to the European market. The Prelude was also equipped with four-wheel steering and a 4-speed automatic or a 5-speed manual transmission. A weight contained under a ton and a half made the Prelude very agile between the curves, satisfying even the most demanding drivers. Yes, because the 2.2 200 horsepower reached 228 kph and touched 100 in just 7.5 seconds. In between was the proverbial drivability that made it a coupe that was anything but predictable, reliable and that seemed to never get old.
The Prelude was produced for the next four years, until Honda decided to pull the plug in 2000. Who knows if because its sales – although positive – did not repeat those of the previous model, or because the interest of the general public, the one making numbers, indicated to the marketing dept. that it was time for much less exciting cars, such as city cars first, SUVs then and crossovers after that. Now, 20 years later, Honda has let the light shine with a concept that heralds the return of the Prelude, this time hybrid and aesthetically not so far from the original recipe. Fingers crossed.
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