Appearing production ready, the Prelude is expected to offer an electric powertrain only, though at present, a date of reveal remains a mystery. Picture: Honda
Having breathed new life into the Integra moniker last year, albeit only in the United States, Honda has revived another of its iconic monikers in the shape of the Prelude at the Tokyo Mobility Show that kicked-off in the Japanese capital on Wednesday (25 October).
Sold over five generations from 1978 to 2001 initially based on the Civic and then the Accord, the Prelude Concept retains the two-door coupe bodystyle of its predecessor, but with an Integra-esque swoopy roofline design in addition to cues drafted from the McLaren MP4-12C.
Sporting a prominent lower air intake, U-shaped thin grille, blue brake calipers and a wraparound illuminated light bar connecting the main clusters, the production-ready looking concept is further garnished with 20-inch alloy wheels, flush door handles, a carbon bootlid spoiler and side skirts seemingly also made out of carbon fibre.
Despite no further details being revealed, Honda President, Toshihiro Mibe, provided the biggest hint of the Prelude becoming a reality after announcing while the automaker remains committed to mobility for all, “we know our customers are expecting one more thing from Honda, and that is sports models”.
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“The Prelude Concept is a specialty sports model that will offer exhilarating experience that makes you want to keep going forever and extraordinary excitement you never felt before,” said Mibe.
Confirmed by the executive as being the “prelude” or preview model for Honda’s next generation, motivation is expected to come from an electric powertrain of sorts the next Civic Type R will most likely also adopt as per Honda’s gradual phasing-out of combustion engines by 2030.
As it stands, a timeframe of when the Prelude enters production is completely unknown. According to Mibe though, “we are diligently progressing with development, so please keep your expectations high for this model”.
Given the mentioned almost production-ready appearance, unconfirmed, and therefore speculative suggesting, points to a likely reveal around 2025 or 2026 should that be the case.
Once again, it needs emphasising that the years in question are purely suggestive and not set in stone as happening outright.
Besides the Prelude, a successor for the equally iconic S2000 has also been rumoured for introduction by 2024, however, nothing has since come of the claims made in 2020.
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