The Honda Prelude steered with its back wheels and outran a Corvette
In 1987 Honda offered the Prelude with something no mass-produced passenger car had tried before: mechanical steering for the rear wheels. Honda guessed three in ten Japanese buyers would pay extra for it. In the first year, eight in ten did, and a magazine slalom test clocked the modest coupe ahead of Porsches, Ferraris and a Corvette.
The system linked two steering boxes with a dedicated shaft. Small movements of the wheel nudged the rear tyres the same way as the front, making motorway lane changes smoother, while turning past 140 degrees swung them the opposite way, tightening the circle for parking. Road and Track measured the Prelude through its slalom at 65.5 mph, against 64.9 for the C4 Corvette. European Car of the Year judges placed it third for 1988, behind the Peugeot 405 and Citroën AX.
The name itself was borrowed. Toyota had trademarked Prelude and handed it over amicably, and it joined a run of musical Honda names including Accord, Concerto, Jazz and Ballade. The first version launched in Japan in November 1978, sold through a new dealer chain called Honda Verno. It used Accord brakes, suspension and engine on a fresh, low chassis, and it was the first Honda with a power sunroof as standard, a feature every later Prelude kept. Its rear seats suited only a small child.
Reviewers liked it. Brock Yates of Motor Trend judged its build quality second only, and narrowly, to Mercedes-Benz. Of the 313,000 first-generation cars made by 1982, more than 80 percent were sold outside Japan, though high prices hurt it in Europe. The second generation, from 1982, brought pop-up headlamps and optional anti-lock brakes. In Britain it sold well even as rivals such as Ford abandoned the coupé market, dropping the Capri after 1986 despite its earlier popularity.
Engineers took pains to keep the bonnet low. The second-generation 1.8-litre engine was tilted backward, and the third generation's engine leaned back 18 degrees, dropping the bonnet line another 30 millimetres. Five generations ran until 2001, when the Integra took over its role. Honda brought the name back in 2025.
Source: Honda Prelude
