“That’s a beautiful car,” says an elderly pedestrian passing as I step into the new Honda Prelude.
Later, stuck in traffic on the A1, the driver of a beaten-up Ford Transit gestures at me to roll down the window: “Nice car, is it electric?”
A new car with such swoopy, impractical styling? Even mainstream drivers sit up and take notice.
Before the Honda Prelude, the only new coupés from non-premium marques in the 2020s have been the Toyota GR86 and Ford Mustang.
The latter is already off-sale, and both were heavy facelifts of older models.
The new Honda Prelude is much more than a swoopy Civic; it blends Type R-inspired components with innovative hybrid power
White van man’s confusion is warranted, though, because the Prelude has an odd – if en vogue – powertrain.
Borrowed from the Honda Civic, its 2-litre, naturally aspirated, Atkinson-cycle engine only drives the wheels via the single-speed transmission when cruising.
The rest of the time it charges a battery that powers the car via a front-mounted electric motor, and at times will drive in electric-only mode.
This means it performs like an EV, feeling quicker off the mark than its 8.2 secs 0-62mph time suggests, but matched by the growl of an internal-combustion engine.
The Honda Prelude’s cabin is plush, but is it enough to tempt BMW loyalists from the 220i Coupé?
