After a two-decade hiatus, the Honda Prelude will officially return to the U.S. market as a hybrid coupe.
Take a look around lately, and you’ll notice the revival of quite a few iconic nameplates. Bronco, Integra, Scout, Supra…and now Prelude. Now, Honda showed off its concept car at last year’s LA Auto Show, but it formally announced Tuesday that the production model will make its way to the American market as a hybrid-electric sports coupe.
This particular Prelude would mark the sixth generation of the model, and the first in more than two decades, since the fifth-gen model went out of production in October 2001. Among Honda’s most iconic cars like the Civic and the Accord, the Prelude also has a special place as one of the brand’s first three models in the original 1970s lineup. Loosely based around the contemporary Accord, Honda’s first Prelude went on sale in 1978, and ran uninterrupted for more than two decades. So, one of Honda’s icons has now been out of production as long as it was rolling out of the company’s Japanese manufacturing plants in the latter part of the 20th century.
Unfortunately, while Honda did share that the new Prelude’s full reveal is launching in late 2025, it did not share too many more technical specs at this point. We do know this sixth-gen model will use the automaker’s two-motor hybrid system — and will likely be closely related to the Civic, Accord, and CR-V Hybrid models. How much power the Prelude will get is a question mark, but the hybrid powertrains in Honda’s existing models manage around 200 horsepower, and that sort of output would put the Prelude pretty close to the 228-horsepower Toyota GR 86/Subaru BRZ.
Honda also shared that its electrified coupe will use a feature called “Honda S+ Shift”, and shared a closeup of that drive mode. If the Prelude uses the same or a similar setup to the other hybrids, then it won’t have a conventional transmission. Instead, Honda’s two-motor system uses a direct-drive setup where the electric motor drives the wheels in most situations, and the 2.0-liter Atkinson cycle engine can run along with the electric motor through a lock-up clutch under highway cruising conditions where the electric motor isn’t as efficient. The new Prelude will take advantage of a “Linear Shift Control” system to simulate a conventional automatic.
We’ll definitely hear more about the 2026 Honda Prelude in the coming months, including more technical specs as we get closer to the full reveal. In the meantime, though, there’s something else to be excited about — the Prelude will return.
