The Honda Prelude is a sports coupe produced by Japanese automaker Honda from 1978
until 2001. The two-door coupe spanned five generations and was discontinued
upon the release of the fifth-generation Honda Integra or Acura RSX Type-S in North
America in late 2001 as well as the release of the Honda S2000 in early 2000,
due to its decreasing sales and popularity. In the U.S. auto market, the sixth-generation
and subsequent Accord Coupes became the de facto replacement for
the Prelude.
The Prelude's perennial competitor has been the Toyota
Celica, another straight-4-powered coupe introduced several years prior to the
Prelude. Throughout the 1980s, the Prelude was challenged by the Nissan Silvia,
Isuzu Impulse, Mitsubishi FTO, Mitsubishi Cordia (later the Eclipse), Ford Probe
and Mazda MX-6. Out of all of these contemporaries, the Eclipse is the only
one remaining car in production.
In the UK, the Honda Prelude was never
considered an essential purchase by the majority of sports car enthusiasts,
who overlooked it for the trendier Toyota MR2 and other well-known rivals.[citation
needed] Within the Honda range itself, the Prelude was usually overlooked
for the more popular Civic and Integra models. This might be partly due to the
Prelude's reportedly cramped interior, though perhaps the Prelude was also overshadowed
by more prominent performance Hondas, such as the NSX. However, the
Prelude is competitive in terms of style, speed and build quality, and it has achieved
something of a cult status in the UK and US where demand is still high
for the sportier, manual transmission versions. This demand is partly attributed
to the still rising demand for customizable cars. Both the fourth and fifth generations
of the Honda Prelude emerged as popular choices for modders. Being relatively
inexpensive, they have a decent amount of aftermarket/replacement parts
available.
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