Honda Prelude

After a quarter-century absence, the Prelude is back. With Type R underpinnings and an innovative powertrain, could it be the car that saves the sport coupe?

- by ETHAN JUPP

YOU COULD BE FORGIVEN FOR WONDERING IF Honda has taken leave of its fiscal senses by introducing a new Prelude. It has arrived during a fallow period for stylish two-door cars, with even the Audi TT - a car first introduced not long before the Prelude name was rested in 2001 - now off sale. Then again, you could say that with other players off the board and the choice of such cars so slim, now is the perfect time to wade in.

Indeed Honda reckons there's life in the coupe market yet, and in the UK that equates to around 20,000 cars per year. ‘Coupe’ is a broad church mind, inclusive of everything from BMW’s 2-series to Aston Martin's Vanquish. It’s the former, specifically BMW’s entry-level 220 coupe, that Honda is targeting with the 600 UK-bound examples of the £40,995 Prelude over the coming two years.

Whether you consider 300 cars per year slim pickings or a realistic target, volume isn't the point. The Prelude's job is to shore up the brand's integrity, acting as a pseudo halo model in the absence of the NSX and the dearly departed Civic Type R. To that end, every Honda dealer in the UK is set to receive its own showroom-candy demonstrator.

‘It feels expensive and capable – comfortable and compliant, yet controlled’

It's a car quite in visual contrast to the Civic Type Rs of recent years, and you'd be right in wondering if such a dainty, minimalistic coupe is up to the job of filling the shoes of a supercar or a touring car for the road. Nonetheless, it is pretty, elegant, with great proportions and considered lines, its styling inside and out inspired by engineless gliders.