Honda Prelude

The Honda Prelude is a sports coupe produced by Japanese automaker Honda from 1978 until 2001. It replaced the Honda S800, a front-engined, rear-wheel drive sports car. The two-door coupe spanned five generations and was eventually discontinued upon the release of the fifth-generation Honda Integra or Acura RSX Type-S in North America in late 2001 as well as the release of the Honda S2000 in early 1999, due to its decreasing sales and popularity. In the U.S. auto market, the sixth-generation and subsequent Accord Coupesbecame the de facto replacement for the Prelude.

The Prelude's perennial competitor has been the Toyota Celica, another straight-4-powered coupe introduced several years prior to the Prelude. Throughout the 1980s, the Prelude was challenged by the Nissan Silvia, Isuzu Impulse, Mitsubishi FTO, Mitsubishi Cordia (later the Eclipse), Opel Manta/Opel Calibra, Ford Probe and Mazda MX-6. Out of all of these contemporaries, the Eclipse is the only car that remains in production.