Prelude started in 1978 as a modest but sexy coupé closely related to both cheeky Civic, and posh Accord.
Honda Prelude is one of the most celebrated front-wheel-drive sports coupes in automotive annals. It was Honda’s technological flagwaver for over 20 years, spanning 5 delicious generations before an enforced 25-year sabbatical. Prelude was not just a sporty car, it was the showcase of engineering prowess.
What began as a parts-bin commuter morphed into a personal gentlemen’s performance coupe. I marvelled at these Hondas as they appeared on streetscapes as new cars. They looked stunning and there were few equals. Like little 60s sports cars it was all about the handling, not brute force.
Mid-era models dominated the market with such marvels as world-first mechanical four-wheel steering and high-revving VTEC engines. After that 25-year nipetty-nap, the 2026 generation resurrected the august nameplate. In my humble opinion, it would have been better off as an Integra, but that’s enough about me.
It may not be quite as ground breaking as previous generations, but the sleek fastback swaps pure dinosaur for a 135kW hybrid, bolts on Civic Type R suspension bits, and a spot of fake gear shifts to keep enthusiasts titillated. The alchemy works like a love potion. Go for a drive and just see if I’m wrong.
Above: Why 2026 Honda Prelude is a Fabulous Drive
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ABOVE: Prelude
The hybrid uses an electric motor to drive the wheels, keeping the engine as a generator that occasionally is manacled to the front wheels at speed. In non-EV speak, it means the electric-first strategy uses petrol, only when it has to. Our 5.5L/100km test week came in a little above the petrol-first Toyota hybrids, but did it with pizzaz.
Honda’s own sheet says 4.3L/100km combined but we got 5.5, that’s 28% more. Naughty wicked little Honda, you saucy minx, you.
Toyota’s hybrids land much closer to their claim, but, Toyota. I’m asleep already.
We wrote more about it here and here
The looks
The 6th-generation Prelude is a visual cornucopia cleverly borrowing design cues from technology not available to previous Preludes. The bonnet is low, and slim adaptive headlights headline LED lighting arrays front and back. The complex rear offers onlookers a thin line to draw the eye across the handsome rump, like one of those 60s French films frequently banned by the likes of Mary Whitehouse. That wizened old scrotum with glasses was more worried about gay todger than gays were. Just as conservatives are now, she was determined that if she couldn’t have sex, nobody should. In her case it was for the best.
But, back to the review: There is a familiar family likeness to existing models, and the shortened Civic/Accord platform means interior space, though tight, is well packaged.
Long doors have fashionably difficult pullout door handles. They present when unlocked, or can be levered out anytime. We’d prefer a regular door handle thanks very much. As China has mandated this, we suspect the rest of the industry will also abandon this awkward mortised madness normalised by the 2012 Model S. It has since spread its lack of reliability industry wide.
At least Honda’s can be used manually to pull out should things go pear-shaped. The things have a bad habit of disappearing the moment an errant passenger tries to embark.
In the video, we point out the huge rear hatch has glass that is part of the arched roofline. The proportions are perfect, but the rear seats are limited by the rear glass headroom, and the wheelbase legroom.
It’s classy, and like most new cars, looks expensive.
The cabin
What at first looks like a negative quickly turns into a positive. Android Automotive is branded as “Google Built-In” to avoid punter confusion with Android Auto. The latter is merely phone mirroring. Infotainment presents on a small 9” screen rather than huge cinema-esque nonsense found ubiquitously strewn throughout showrooms. The bright side is physical buttons in all new Hondas as the urge to hide everything in menus is mercifully resisted.
The seats are manually adjusted, which is a bit rich for 65k drive away.
The HUD is a crystal clear image, but the 10.25” driver display shares some of the duty. For this price we’d have hoped at least for dual 12” displays for ease of use. Though menus are simple, maps in small screens start to feel a bit last decade.
Google assistant was a spotty youth every time you want something done, something we’ve found in other brands using Android Open Source Project software in all its many guises. We weren’t able to properly sign in and although a “driver” account had been created, the system only works best for owners as opposed to humble, ham-fisted reviewers.
Materials create a sense of cosseting class. Anyone who has been in Accord or Civic will see a place instantly recognised as a techo-club-chill-out-zone-ish type place.
“Prelude”, embroidered into the dash, uses a famous script that brought childhood memories (and a few tiny tears) flooding back.
The Drive
David joined me for the video, and I suppose 2 men of a certain age are going to look right at home cruising down the smouldering remnants of Oxford St.
I mention this to add context as I opine my way through the eastern suburbs, routing through to the glorious sandstone gorges north.
There is little left of what used to be the gay epicentre of Australia, so it seemed ironic that we started the day in what used to be a gay icon. Prelude was said to be a hairdresser’s car, a moniker it never deserved. As nightlife received a reality check over the last few decades, the clubs and pubs gradually closed. They priced themselves out of existence, and the auto industry is going down that same rabbit hole.
$65,000 is a whole heapin’ helpin’ of shekels for a car with shift’em ya’self seats. Chinese brands offer powered-wigged flunkies to shift your seats for you at the mere wave of a hand, and all for 20k less.
So, that is where we must start: price vs DRIVE.
Prelude has never been a muscled brute elbowing its way through traffic like a steroided yob. It was always refined, elegant, and modestly powered, and that continues with 135kW/315Nm (oh look, same numbers, different order) and front-wheel-drive.
It gets suspension bits and brake parts from a Type-R, posh adaptive suspension, and a vroom-vroom noise from fake gears. If you think that all sounds like bollocks, you’re wrong. It is the very essence of what makes a Prelude special, so special in fact, that it is unique.
Don’t believe me? Find me another hybrid 2-door sports car under $70,000. I’ll wait.
Cornering is an absolute delight. It switches direction psychically, and in S+, paddle shifters whack those fake gears about the place like a ping-pong ball on coke. Back in normal modes, and the paddles alter regen braking. The feature frankly drove me nuts. The fiendish ability to drive owners into a fruity lather is something reserved for the French, what is it doing in a Japanese car?
The S+ gear thing slows the 0-100km/h from 7.2 seconds to 8.2 seconds. It is a joke surely? Leave it to its own devices and enjoy the view. Is 7.2 slow? No, it is unrushed.
You can get a similar sensation from Mazda MX-5, but that screams council chav joyride rather than the cravatted panache of Simon Templar.
Everything was easy to use except for the teen moodiness of the assistant. Imagine having a gen Alpha work experience junior, and asking them to drive a manual down the pub to collect your lunch. I kid you not, this thing had more excuses than Donald Trump’s diaper supplier.
Let’s tie this baby up in a nice neat pink boa
Prelude is a cosy love hutch for 2. There is enough space for a brace of soft totes, carry-ons if they don’t have wheels. The sound system is killer, the fake gears awaken a love for naffness, and the fuel consumption satisfies your sense of world peace. No polar bears were harmed in the making of this video.
But, there is a reality we must all face: the world is running out of time to banish the burning of Carboniferous dross. If we don’t stop treating the planet like we have a spare, whether or not a car has cooled seats will be the mootest of matters.
What saves Prelude from being directly compared to a cheap Chinese pretender is the lack of a pretender contender. As I said, this Honda is utterly unique.
Perhaps that’s why Honda has taken a punt. Japanese car makers are losing market share up hill and down dale, and they can’t compete on price or technology any more. Filling a niche is about the only haven left, and Prelude may have found just such a niche.
More Honda Stories
- Is the Honda Prelude the Most Misunderstood Car Ever Built
- 2026 Honda Prelude First Drive, the Grown-Up Momentum Coupe
- Australia’s Car Market 46% Electrified in May
Above: Ottobox MCM11 Flex Vacuum Magnetic Phone Mount
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Alan Zurvas is the founder and editor of Gay Car Boys, Australia's leading LGBTQI+ automotive publication. Before launching GCB in 2008, Alan's automotive writing was published in SameSame.com.au and the Star Observer. With over 16 years of hands-on car reviewing experience, Alan brings an honest, irreverent voice to every review — championing value and innovation over brand loyalty.
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