Honda has revealed a new Prelude concept at this year’s Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo that previews a future electrified sports car.
This “speciality sports model” is a two-door sports car that seemingly looks production-ready. At this stage it’s unclear when it will actually enter production and which markets it will be offered in.
This Prelude concept is claimed to have an electrified powertrain of some variety, though the company doesn’t specify what exactly. It’s unclear if it’s all-electric.
Honda Motor Company director and president Toshihiro Mibe said during a press conference at the Japan Mobility Show the Prelude concept will “inherit the ‘joy of driving’ into the full-fledged electrified future”.
The company claims it’s “diligently progressing with development” of the production Prelude sports car, with Mibe-san saying to “keep your expectations high”.
For now Honda has only published one high-resolution image of the Prelude concept and shown it off briefly during its livestream from the Tokyo motor show.
The Prelude concept has a conventional coupe silhouette appears that appears to move away from the notchback design that has previously characterised the two-door sports car.
At the front there are LED headlights that are connected by an LED light bar. There’s also a large air vent at the bottom of the bumper that has triangular fog lights integrated into it, as well as a blue accent segment in the middle.
The curvaceous concept boasts swollen wheel arches, large gloss-black alloy wheels, blue brake calipers, and retracting door handles.
We’re yet to get a proper look at the Prelude’s rear end, though there’s a subtle rear spoiler.
Honda hasn’t detailed the interior of the Prelude concept as of yet. It’s unclear if it will be a two- or four-seater as the rear roofline is quite steeply raked.
The Honda Prelude was produced over five generations from 1978 to 2001 as a series of sporty front-wheel drive coupes, and was known for its zingy four-cylinder petrol engines hooked up to sweet-shifting manual transmissions – though automatic options were also available.
In addition to the Prelude concept, Mibe-san used his press conference at the Japan Mobility to showcase the CI-MEV concept which is a self-driving micro-mobility vehicle, the Sustaina-c concept which is made from a range of sustainable materials, among other ventures it’s working on.
Notably absent in the presentation was any mention of a flagship NSX successor.
Honda released a single shadowy image of two sports cars side-by-side under silks last year. The left car appears to be the Prelude concept, whereas the other looks like a potential NSX successor.
Previous teaser image
At the local of the second-generation NSX’s swan song Type S variant in 2021, Acura general manager Jon Ikeda told The Drive there will be a third generation and it will likely be electric.
“The first-gen was gas. Second-gen was a hybrid. There’s gonna be another one,” said Mr Ikeda.
He noted Honda likes to “make an NSX when there’s something we want to say”.
