People are once against interested in buying Japanese sports cars. The successful launch of the Supra led to the new Nissan 400Z and Toyota GR86. The Civic Type R is priced like a sports car too, and it’s going to have an even more expensive brother, the Acura Integra Type S.
For a company like Honda, which is known for the Civic and primarily sells crossovers, that should have been enough. However, the competitiveness that led to the development of those amazing “280 horsepower” cars in the 90s is back, and Honda apparently wants to use the Prelude nameplate.
You heard that right; The Honda Prelude might be making a comeback, but that’s going to take a while to happen and will require advanced new technology. According to an article from the Japanese scoop website Best Car Web, the Civic maker plans to show a concept in 2028 that previews a “Prelude successor.”
Not a lot of details are available at the moment, but it appears an electric powertrain is needed. Because sports cars have such low production volumes, many manufacturers have paired up: BMW/Toyota, Toyota/Subaru. Honda doesn’t seem to have a lot of resources in general. The 2024 Prologue SUV is all-electric and revolutionary for the brand but hides GM underpinnings, those of the Chevy Blazer EV, to be precise.
A flagship NSX EV is also under development and will apparently debut with solid-state batteries around the same time. But the technology has been deemed too expensive for the Prelude successor, which will have normal EV batteries and an electric motor at the back.
All that sounds like complete nonsense. The Preludes of the 90s were these long VTEC coupes with power going to the front. The S2000 is supposed to get the RWD setup, right? Well, Honda already makes something called simply the “E”, which looks like a 1972 Civic but is a RWD electric toy.
Obviously, this image you’re seeing isn’t real; it’s a rendering from Best Car. In fact, Honda probably doesn’t even know what this concept looks like yet.
Honda EVs: what we know for sure
Honda has outlined plans to make 30 electric car models by 2030 with the target of being 100% electric by 2040. At the end of this decade, they plan to be selling 2 million such cars a year, and while most will be practical hatchbacks or crossovers, it’s easy to see why a halo is also needed.
In 2026, they will begin selling models on the e: Architecture which from what we understand is for large vehicles, mainly sold in North America. Meanwhile, in 2027, another platform of electric vehicles, co-developed with GM, will produce medium-sized cars at a more affordable price. Wouldn’t it be cool if GM was also making a sister sports car to this “Prelude”?
Why the Honda Prelude is awesome
I’m fully on board with Honda bringing back the Prelude. This thing is every bit as awesome as the Integra or CRX, but people just don’t talk about it enough.
Built because Honda wanted an affordable sports coupe to compete with the Toyota Celica, the Prelude gradually introduced groundbreaking features. Do you know what other JDM legend is getting revived as an EV? That’s right, the Celica.
In the 80s, the Prelude got double wishbone suspension and all-round disc brakes. While it wasn’t RWD, the Prelude was the first mass-market car to have all-wheel-steering. Yeah, I know the R31 Skyline did it first in 1985. But the Prelude was sold globally to people who could only afford cup ramen.
VTEC arrived in 1993 with a 2.2-liter making 190 horsepower. Many Prelude fans actually own the next model that came after that and was the last one. 5th-gens just look right with coilovers and nice wheels. Facts!
