An engineering thesis disguised as a coupe: A history of the Honda Prelude

The Honda Prelude, returning for 2026 after over 25 years, was an engineering-focused coupe that embodied Honda's commitment to precision and clever packaging over brute force. Born during the economic turbulence of the early 1970s—Nixon's abandonment of the gold standard, dollar devaluation, and the OPEC oil shock—the Prelude was shaped by constraint rather than excess. Its origin coincided with founders Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa stepping aside from the company they built.