Who’d have thunk it? Just when you believed you’d never see another two door coupe again in our lifetime, we get hit upside the head with several upcoming or proposed cars with the same number of side doors as a Chevy Monte Carlo. Recently, spy shots of the new 2024 Dodge Charger show that the rear doors from the first revival model have somehow gone missing; we’re looking at a true-to-the-sixties-original coupe. In a day and age when there are things like the “Eclipse Cross” and other such slap-the-name-on-a-crossover shenanigans, it’s amazing to see the two door bodystyle possibly making a return. There’s more! The hottest story around auto publication office water coolers has been Honda’s resurrection of the Prelude name for a new concept, which, true to original, is a real coupe and not some squashed four door with the “coupe” name. It’s exciting, but there are some tweaks that I’d make to get it to look more like a true Prelude.
The Prelude concept is a slick enough looking design that bears much resemblance to the proposed Tesla roadster, as well as other models in Elon’s lineup. Some have compared it to the latest Toyota Prius. Actually, the concept bears a resemblance to a number of cars, with possibly one exception: any Honda Prelude.
Like the concept or not, the vast majority of commenters on sites don’t think this concept has anything that says “Prelude” in its design. A company has the right to throw a name they own onto anything they want, but you’d think that whatever they stick it on should have some visual reference to other cars with the name, right? This one doesn’t. That’s like Dodge making a Challenger reboot that looks like a tribute to a 1978 Magnum XE [Ed Note: Or making a four-door Charger! -DT]. If anything, this Prelude concept looks more like a tribute to Honda’s own Accord coupe from the early 2000s.
A Prelude should look like a Prelude, and with a few minor changes (and one big one) we could probably make that happen pretty quickly.
Introduced in late 1978, this Accord-based sporty-but-not-a-sports-car entry was a mainstay of the Honda lineup through five generations and twenty-two years, eventually succumbing to the Great Coupe Purge of the early 2000s. With each new model, there were certain design elements that were a constant. Take a look at the family tree below and you’ll see the commonalities.
Each of these generations features a notchback design with similar-shaped rear quarter windows. There’s also a low nose — so low that some models utilized pop up headlamps to meet headlight height requirements. The new Prelude concept below seems to have none of these features.
Let’s make some changes. The roofline can be easily altered to more of a Prelude-style notchback which actually seems to accentuate the muscular rear quarters. I’m also assuming this thing has a rear seat, and a more upright notchback roofline would help headroom significantly.
Up front, it might be difficult to lower the height of the nose considering the mechanicals that are concealed beneath the skin of this could-be-a-barely-disguised production car. That’s not a problem _ graphically we can use low headlamps and an even lower grille opening to make the front end not only seem lower but give the illusion of a longer hood. Details simulate the front end treatments on Preludes from years past. The LED daytime running lights simulate sealed beams and call to mind the look of the original car (or, without illumination, the nose looks a bit like the second generation car).
Here’s all of those changes together:
The Prelude was actually the first Honda (and maybe first car ever) to offer a certain feature as standard — a feature that was part of the specification of every Honda that bore the Prelude name up to the end. The 2023 concept doesn’t have it. That’s right — it doesn’t have a moonroof, and based on the look of that top, it — like the Toyota GR86 — doesn’t appear to have provisions for one! That power glass sunroof was the calling card of this little coupe from day one, so making one without a moonroof would be like building a front wheel drive Camaro.
We’ll have to add a moonroof of course, and it should be a you-call-that-a-knife over-the-top moonroof. I’m envisioning a two-piece system where the entire glass roof will retract and stack on top of the rear backlight.
It’s not too dissimilar to this one from Lincoln:
I missed if any interior shots of the new concept exist (I don’t think so), but it wouldn’t matter since I’d like to take a direction that I’m sure they won’t take. The first Prelude had quite an interesting instrument panel where the speedometer was concentric with the tachometer, and warning lights floated in front of both gauges.
Our concept will feature a “vortex” style instrument cluster which is deeply dished with speed and range indicators arranged along the side so that every drive feels like you’re staring at the video game “Tempest”.
Don’t for one minute think that I’m knocking Honda for bringing back one of their old favorites. It takes guts to go against the grain of an industry that appears to be getting more anti-sedan every day with an actual two door coupe. I only hope that they put a just that tiny bit of effort into it to keep the legacy of the name they placed on it alive.
The Honda Prelude Is Exactly What The World Needs Right Now – The Autopian
The New Honda Prelude Is Actually A Hybrid And That Rules – The Autopian
Could A Two Door Model Pull a Coup D’Etat on Boring Crossovers? – The Autopian
Had an ’01 Prelude (silver, leather interior) that was originally bought by my grandparents in 2001. I drove that beautiful machine into the ground as a 20 something kid fresh out of college from 2007 to 2012. Damn, I miss that car and I often think about how I wouldn’t mind buying a new one some 10 years later.
I have a greater appreciation for this car. It is not meant as a go fast look at me type of machine. It is subtle, but not timid. It will get up and go when asked, but it would rather cruise some back roads or gladly guide you through an hour long commute in southern California. This is the car that will get you up the Cajon Pass and glide through the desert on a cool Friday evening as you make your way to Vegas for the weekend.
I will take one in silver with dark tinted windows, spoiler and a slick leather interior. Thanks.
Well the 5th gen looks like a futuristic 3rd gen.. the 6th gen can look like a futuristic 4th gen, and to me it does.
CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve turned the new Prelude into a new Mitsubishi FTO! XD https://cdn.autoc-one.jp/images/article/201712/27163719896_o.jpg
The thing just looks to big in the cockpit area, the Prelude was very much a 2 + 2 in that 60-80s way that had the back seats big enough for pre-adolescents or pretzled adults. The restyle doesn’t fix and doesn’t really get meaningfully closer to the original Prelude feel. My wife had a first generation when I met her, good memories.
Reference to the old Tempest video game, faints from an overdose of nostalgia. What was the article about again?
Tempest was the best video game of the arcade generation.
It still looks like a NIssan Z. The styling does not go far enough. Yes, it looks different than what the previous Prelude looks like, but it doesn’t stand out to what is offered in 2023-2024. Honda considers the Type R as the top echelon for Honda so they will not let another car directly compete with it with a Honda badge. It might be between 220-270hp for base and 280-300hp for the Type R.
Now that I think about it, the new prelude looks like it could be GR86 2.0.
You gonna bring back a classic, go balls to the wall. It needs to be polarizing, sharp lines, and looks like it should be 2050 release.
I love the design tweaks, but I also like the original Honda design for the new Prelude as well.
I know the trend in car design right now is to look back and pick up clues from past models and carry them forward, but I feel this is exactly what the Prelude WASN’T! To me, the Prelude was always an attempt at something new, not a continuation of something from the past. I mean, the name of the car literally means an introduction to something new or important! The name is forward looking! So I have no issues with Honda creating something distinctly new for the Prelude.
As a prelude fan, I agree with this take. And besides, I think the low cowl and long hood was such a defining feature of these cars that you simply can’t honor the literal designs with modern pedestrian safety standards (which, given that we’re fine with everybody daily driving pickups with hoods 5 feet off the ground, are patently absurd anyway, but that’s a rant for a different post).
I drove a used 1980 Prelude XE (into the ground) when I was stationed at Yokota AB outside Tokyo in the very early 90’s. White with Red interior – and in JDM spec, we had power windows, a rear wiper – and a very strange radio that was mounted to the side of the binnacle with a rotary knob to change stations, and the cassette player in the console!
Loved that little car – Wished I could have brought it Stateside with me when my tour ended in 1992.
I agree – this Prelude looks nothing like a real Prelude. I kept thinking it might be more of an homage to the odd-duck 4th Gen Prelude (which struck me as a cross between an Oldsmobile in back, and Eagle in front, and a Thunderbird inside) But yes – it’s a mid-90’s Accord Coupe.
Tho I disagree – the moonroof should be a glass panel within a body-colored roof – and the roofline should be an inch or so higher to clear our heads. Because Preludes (except for 4th Gen) as well as the 1st Gen Legend Coupe had a slightly higher roof than it might otherwise – and the higher roof would proportionally make the front clip appear lower.
Now about those headlamps – Only the 2nd and 3rd gen had pop-up headlamps. So I believe the fixed headlamps outweigh the moveable ones – tho this arrangement is dumb. Just make them big squarish headlamps – and they’ll fit the series just fine.
That radio was on US models as well; the early ones with that concentric speedo/tach. Later generations got more traditional (except for the 4th gen with the digital gauges in the middle of the dash)
Tempest! Fantastic sound effects, it would be epic if the car made 80s warp sounds when you started up.
The roofline change really does make it look way better.
I wonder how big the range hit would be though. 20%?
with the giant sunroof open? Probably a big hit
If Honda’s design are more “Accord Coupe”, then your tweaks make it feel much more like a Mitsubishi FTO. Not a bad thing, but not a Prelude either. Also, for a while there, “It looks like an Accord Coupe” was the automotive design equivalent of “It tastes like chicken”, so would that make this design the Boca Chick’n Patty of the car world?
When I saw your instrument sketch, it sort of reminded me of the Mazda MX81 concept.
While I’m happy with the design as is, these tweaks certainly give the Prelude a bit more character. Would be nice to add some of these novel details, but I’ll take what I can get.
The 4th gen Prelude dash is fucking awesome tho
Yesss, this!
I borrowed a mid-2000’s Civic a while back, and that also had the ‘stacked’ gauges, and personally I thought it looked really cool.
I dig this redesign. The problem with their original take is – like often these days – that the so called design language is too generic. It may be a Honda, but it could also be a Nissan, Toyota, Kia, or anything else of your choosing and no one would notice. Although I like that they’re doing a coupe, I’m missing Prelude vibes in that design.
Everyone ate too many efficiency jellybeans.
My least favorite part of the Honda is the front that makes it look too extended, so I definitely prefer your front even if I think it will evoke the more recent Saturn (or for a weirdo like me, the Pontiac Tojan) for most than the old Prelude most people in any climate with precipitation likely haven’t seen an example of in decades. Though the notchback does make sense for rear headroom (assuming—probably rather safely—that it’s a 2+2), I prefer the smoother roof and window line of Honda’s design and I suspect it would be better for aero (even though what looks more aero often isn’t and the notchback profile could probably be shaped for flow reattachment and/or a trunk lip spoiler added to do so for minimal loss). What I dislike second most with the Honda’s design and that you left untouched is the side character line that continues from the front bumper past the front wheel arch. It’s the kind of line that looks good in a sketch, but just kind of stuck on in real life where the lighting is softer than an ink line, making it not so obvious that the line is an extension of the bumper. It either needs to be more bold to point it out with some kind of design feature in the back to tie into it, or to have that line redirect to emphasize the rear, or eliminated (my preference). As it sits here, that line reminds me of a Nissan product.
I always like moonroofs, though I am fine without one on my ’86 for the Zagato style roof styling.
I saw a video of it the other day and the character line is more pronounced than the press photos.. my best guess is they did it to recall the Accord Coupe.. which, while true, isn’t necessary. If they’d gone more 3rd/5th gen than generic coupe, I’d be all about it.
It might be one of those things that has to be seen in person. I think it would depend on how well the rear haunch interacts with it and if it doesn’t look like an either superfluous line or like someone sliced the car and glued it back together.
Definite improvement. Funny everyone is saying they are getting Saturn vibes, I saw that full render and got more of a Mitsubishi FTO vibe, not a bad thing!
I agree, FTO was the first thing I saw too
It is odd how taking the graphics of a 1979 car and applying it to the design language of 2023 ends up with a car that call to mind machines from smack in the middle (the 1990s)! It’s like you stopped the animation mid-morph.
I love the sunroof idea. The third gen Integra had the same and so does the current MDX. A great ode to the past.
Autoplaying again the already paused autoplay video after we swiped down the screen feels like a rape of my data plan.
So fucking disappointing.
The front of your concept looks more like a Saturn.
HA! I saw a bit of the same thing last night. First gen SL1 or 2 (I think SC2 had the pop ups)
You two minutes too late plagiarizer! lol. 🙂
Not to poo-poo on your vision, but I see a LOT of Saturn in that reimagined nose.
That’s what I saw too.
Gaaaaah! Now I’m seeing the Saturn similarity too. How about doing something with the 1st gen’s whole-front chrome surround? Yes, more aero, but still some form of chrome character trim that outlines the front and kicks up over the (taller than the grille) headlights.
Nice work, I’m actually excited about this Prelude as I can hopefully accommodate a coupe with rear seats into my life in a few years when this is released. However from the moment I saw it I thought it should have been the new Acura Integra, not a Honda Prelude.
True- fastback is not Prelude. Even the Gen 4 had a bit of a notch to the rear styling
I had the same thought, with the faster roofline and tapered rear side windows it looked more like a 2-door Integra proposal.