The Reborn Hybrid Honda Prelude Is Officially Coming To America Next Year

It’s been 22 years since you could buy a new Honda Prelude in America, so if you’ve been hankering for a new one, I have some good news: Only one more year to go. That’s right, the hybrid Honda Prelude is officially set to roll into American showrooms by the end of 2025, so if you’re the type to budget for Christmas gifts super early, you’re going to have a whole year to gift yourself a downpayment on one of these coupes.

It’s hard to believe that more than a year has passed since the Honda Prelude Concept debuted at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show, but not only does time fly, gorgeous cars have a habit of sticking in our memories. Not only was this the absolute highlight of its inaugural auto show, it also lit up Los Angeles, where a peek around the concept revealed more than a few seemingly production-ready touches. It still appeared to effectively be a rolling concept car without a real powertrain, but from the wiper transmission to the weatherstripping, Honda’s revived coupe seemed to be no flight of fancy.

Indeed, with an on-sale date of late 2025 and a debut date of autumn 2023, it’s likely the Prelude concept was unveiled after an exterior design freeze for the production car was put in place. Considering the development timeline for most new cars is at least three years long, don’t be surprised the Prelude you can buy looks a whole lot like this. But what’ll it be like underneath?

Well, the new Prelude has been confirmed to feature Honda’s two-motor hybrid system, meaning it’ll likely be front-wheel-drive and possibly similar to the 200-horsepower two-liter four-cylinder hybrid system in the Civic. For what it’s worth, Car And Driver clocked zero-to-60 mph in 6.2 seconds from the new Civic hybrid, and that sort of acceleration sounds perfectly swift enough for a sporty compact coupe like the Prelude. If it lands anywhere in that ballpark, I’ll be happy.

Unfortunately, rumours of the new Prelude being equipped with a manual transmission seem false, but there’s an interesting consolation prize here — something Honda calls “S+ Shift”, which, in incoherent marketing-speak, is “an innovative new drive mode that further advances Linear Shift Control to deliver maximum levels of driver engagement.” That doesn’t say anything about what it actually is, but the European press release for the Honda ZR-V might offer a clue. It states that “Linear shift control correlates engine sound to engine acceleration G for a more reassuring acceleration feel,” which suggests that this new drive mode appearing on the Prelude could simulate shifts and engine noise, much like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. We’ll just have to wait and see.

The new Prelude likely won’t be the high-revving stick-shift coupe diehards craved, but those days have been over for a while. For empty-nesters looking for a dashing compact coupe, grown-up tuners looking to leave their B-swapped Civics in their garages on the weekdays to slog through city traffic in something modern and conveniently automatic, and young professionals looking to buy something sensible but sexy, this should hit the nail on the head provided Honda doesn’t go wild on pricing.

Still, with an on-sale date by the end of 2025, expect all to be revealed in the next 12 months or so. Needless to say, we’ll be watching the new Prelude like a hawk. It’s about time sporty compact liftback coupes made a comeback, pretty soon it’ll be on buyers to respond.

(Photo credits: Honda)

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