Honda Prelude Makes Surprise Comeback As A Hybrid-Electric Coupe [Update]

Updated Wednesday, October 26 at 3:45 p.m. EST: A representative for Honda clarified on X (it’s Twitter) that the Prelude Concept is a hybrid-electric vehicle, not a fully electric car as previously reported.

It’s time to party like it’s the ’90s all over again, because the Honda Prelude is back as a hybrid coupe. The automaker made the semi-surprise reveal at the Japan Mobility Show on October 25. It was just a rumor for a while, and now it’s here, baby, but not as a fully electric vehicle.

The new Prelude Concept is all about taking the “joy of driving” into the electrified-ish age, according to Honda, anyway. Hopefully, a car like this will stop people from complaining about the fact that the new Integra is a four-door liftback and not a coupe (even though the original Integra also was a liftback.) Eh, who am I kidding, folks are going to complain that it’s a hyrbrid vehicle and doesn’t use some sort of high-revving four-cylinder engine. They may even end up complaining that it’s just a hybrid.

The Japanese automaker is, of course, hoping the iconic Prelude name will drum up interest in the car, and why shouldn’t it? Old Preludes were great cars, and if this thing has the driving characteristics to match its very pretty styling, it’ll be a cracker as well.

“Honda has always been committed to creating sporty vehicles. And the word ‘prelude’ means an ‘introductory or preceding performance.’ This model will become the prelude for our future codels which will inert the ‘joy of driving’ into the full-fledged electrified future and embody Honda’s unalterable sports mindset,” Toshihiro Mibe, Honda’s Director and President said in a statement.

Mibe went on to say that the Prelude Concept is a “specialty sports model” that will give drivers an “exhilarating experience” that’ll make them want to “keep going forever” as well as “extraordinary excitement you never felt before.” Those are some pretty lofty goals, but it sounds like Honda wants us to have those expectations.

“In order to offer the ‘joy of driving’ only Honda can realize, we are diligently progressing with development, so please keep your expectations high for this model.”

Between this, the Integra and the Type R, Honda definitely seems to be cashing in on nostalgia, and why not? It’s a formula that seems to be working.

There’s no real word on what sort of power the new Prelude could put out – or even where the drive wheels are – but for no, I suppose we should just enjoy the return of an iconic name on a very pretty body.

The new Prelude concept was one of a number of new projects, Mibe made at the show to celebrate the automaker’s 75th anniversary. He also showed off the driverless rideshare vehicle it developed with GM’s Cruise and the SUSTANIA-C Concept, a car produced in acrylic resin that has been recycled.