The Rise And Fall Of The Honda Prelude
2024 ж. 14 Мам.
29 322 Рет қаралды
What happened to the iconic Honda Prelude? Why was it discontinued? Is it coming back in 2028 like the rumours say? Today we look back at every model year and dive into the Prelude's rise, fall and possible resurrection.
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Chapters:
0:00 - The Honda Prelude: A Sports Car For Grownups
0:47 - 1st Generation (1979 - 1982)
2:42 - 2nd Generation (1983 - 1987)
5:34 - 3rd Generation (1988 - 1991)
10:35 - 4th Generation (1992 -1996)
13:49 - 5th Generation (1997 - 2001)
3rd gen prelude 4ws is the best generation. I own one and there is nothing else like it to drive, the 4ws is much more noticeable than people realise, especially at low and high speeds and when changing lanes on the highway for example. If anyone ever gets a chance to drive one I highly recommend it.
I just bought one. LOVE it
How much you pay for it ? Saving up for one I never wanted a car this bad
@@Steezealways you can pick them up cheap in the states
Totally agree had one also there is nothing like it
I have one now and it's absolutely incredible. It's my favorite car and I've driven 392s and hellcats
I love my 95 prelude, finding parts for it in 2023 is a pain is the ass tho
Very Worth it because no emissions and its light and it's a rare gem good luck with your car
I love my 5th gen Prelude. It is nearly stock other than a 1" lowering to get rid of that horrendous mosnter truck wheel gap, and cold air intake for just a little "oomph" noise when accelerating. Gave it a paint job last year & I constantly get compliments for it.
My first car was a ‘89 Prelude Si with 4WS. Loved that car. Red with a body kit, mag wheels, etc. It got a lot of attention, and was a lot of fun to drive. One thing people don’t realise is how huge the boot space was. A friend had a huge sound system in his, and still had what in most cars would be considered a full sized boot. Unfortunately Honda really botched the 4th gen design. It was widely considered as ugly, and didn’t have anywhere near the appeal of the 3rd gen.
I have a golden ‘89 sí… it was also my first car. a body kit you said? any suggestions?
PREEE-LOOD & SAH-LEEEKA? AHHHHHHH😩😫
Bro 💀💀💀
My first car was a Red 85 Prelude. My girlfriend at the time (who’s now my wife) had a Black 90 SR. Now we have a Black 2000 SH. 5th Gen is my fav and will have forever car. Great video!
Coolest BF/GF car combo ever! haha
My first car was a 1985 gray 5 speed. Loved that car!
I just bought myself a prelude si 4ws, and I’m so in love with the back wheels turning. I’m still learning manual so I haven’t gotten up to high speeds with it yet, but the U-turns on that car are insane
Best video to explain preludes man! Good job I have a 2001 prelude and I absolutely love it
I remember seeing that 1993 Prelude as a kid and thought it was really a beautiful car.
Still is.
I remember a high school teacher buying a new 4th Gen VTEC and being jealous although I was able to afford a used one in the late 90’s.
I bought a 93 Prelude VTEC in 1998. Still my favorite car from a price paid ($11k) versus driving enjoyment and overall ownership experience. I almost bought a 5th Gen when I moved to Los Angeles but convinced myself I needed an automatic and would only get a Prelude with a manual. My friend just bought an ‘01 S2000 for $40k so it’s crazy what some of these cars are going for now.
The 4WS was worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY in my opinion. Loved my Prelude and wish I had it today ... the one that got away
What a great video. The 3rd and 5th gen Preludes were the best looking and I enjoyed driving the 5th gen a lot.
4th is by far the best one. Lighter and more classic sport car lines equiped with a H series monster.
Torque. Yes.
Lol 200 HP isn’t a monster
@@19hundoc47 my prelude is a monster. I have two. One with a F20b pro2 AEM standalone ECU making about 265-270 crank HP at 2600lbs.. My other one is a h22a1 built internals,stage 2 cams 66-62 turbo. Gap city on hellcats
@@TheBb6prelude sure buddy lol
@@19hundoc47 I literally have videos of my build.
Thank for sharing this informative video. I currently owned 1998 Honda Prelude Type SH and I truly appreciated the sporty design, mechanics, and reliability. That raw old school VTEC never gets old and it will always put a smile on my face. In today market, these cars are more rare and collectible, which I'm thankful for having this car.
I owned a 4 gen. Great car.
Gen 3 and Gen 5 equal my fav Preludes xx
I currently have the 3rd gen 1989 prelude. I love this car. The handling is amazing. It’s getting to be a pain in the ass to find parts but worth it in my opinion.
Love the short funny rambles you go on like "shannon beating you to soccer practice" 😂😂😂 well done sir 👏
3rd and 5th gens just look so good
very comprehensive video, thank you
I presently own a '99 5thgen Honda Prelude w/manual shift that i love but i would love to get a 4WS 3rdgen Prelude!!
I have both 5th gen sir rhd and a 89 4ws. The 3rd gen is alot of fun!
@@ls401 That's what's up!!
Wow, amazing video! Nice job dude
Thanks!!
4th gen is the best if you’re a true honda enthusiast. Overall the best performance wise.
My first car in 1996 was a 1983 Honda Prelude. 5sp w/ no power steering.
The prelude should definitely come back, honda would make billions
3rd gen! I had a 1991 2.1 si, and I'm so glad I had the chance to experience that car.
A '92 was my first car and a '99 my second. I'm 40 now so I drive a Lexus, but those 2 'ludes are still my favorite cars I've ever owned. Thanks for the video!
I have a black 2001 Prelude,5 speed, leather interior in nearly mint condition. Just getting the whole front of the car repainted because of fading paint and rock chips. Brand new genuine headlights are being installed as well, it’ll look brand new. I think it has to be close to one of the last ones ever built as it was assembled in October of 2001, I wonder how I would find out for sure. 😊
Great video! I take comfort in the knowledge that my 3rd Gen SI 4WS is your favorite. I would allow you to try out the all mechanical four-wheel-steering anytime, my friend!
Still madly in love with my first gen !
Great video
I was never really a fan of Honda. But I remember being in Grade School back in the early 90s. We had two Teachers that bought Brand-new Honda's. One a Del Sol and the other a Prelude. I thought they were cool. But when the last generation of the Prelude came out whiles I was in Highschool in '97. I remember a School Secretary had just bought one it was a Silver Blueish Color. I thought it was Sharp.
Great vid. Btw I watched this on fri 13th! Alien3 beautiful. Hope this comes back, along with a fit. Ditch the HRV and return element. Honda Canada also keep prices like the US, did u forget u have an Acura line too?
4th gen, the most beautiful and it does not look old until this days👌🏻👌🏻🔥🔥
Absolutely I loved my 1991 4WS 5spd. It was awesome 👍
You called it! Kudos.
I swapped 4 wheel steering rack into my 3rd generation Prelude in 2006. It's 2024 now and it's still my favorite car out of the 10 that I currently own, and of the ~20 I've owned through my life. 4ws really does take the car to the next level, and being entirely mechanical, you feel it at all speeds and driving conditions.
Fellow lowermainlander here, Ive got a 01 prelude and 88 prelude with 4ws and the 88 is by far my favorite. Driving a car with 4ws is like no other driving experience. The low speed maneuverability has saved me a number of times and its a blast to drive at high speeds. The 4ws comes with a strange feeling of having the backend kick out from behind you without loosing traction. Aswell the turning radius is crazy. Extremely fun and agile car to drive, would highly recommend owning or driving one if you get the chance.
A 3rd gen 4WS Prelude is definitly on my list of cars I'd like to own someday!
86 SE was my first prelude and 97 base with some OG mugen bits is my 2nd. Still have the 97 today since i was 18. Im 43 this year...lol thanks for the vid
I have a 90 prelude with the B20A5. i bought it a little over a year ago for $900 CAD. got really lucky on that one
Wow you sure did!
i have a 92 prelude si 4WS and i love it sm i just wish there was more after market parts for the body
I have a 1980 Prelude and love this car. Such classic, easy to work on. Just the parts are difficult to get🙃
Love my 3rd gen, spot on with the speed bump thing lol
My favorite generation would have to be the final. I came across one about three years ago for $2500 USD and was tempted to buy it, but it was automatic and I’ve seen that the 4-speed tiptronic wasn’t the most reliable. Awesome idea for a video as well!
Yes you want avoid the automatics on the final gen, very problematic
Or …. Get what you like as I did and just get the trans rebuilt with better parts.
2500!? If it was in decent condition you shoulda jumped on it. Just do a trans swap to manual and drive the car like it was meant to
@@ALE5six1 Agreed-in hindsight, I wish I would’ve gotten it.
@@AcuraAdvice had an automatic 5th Gen and had ZERO issues with the drivetrain. That Prelude was the nicest coupe I ever owned. The only problem I had was I had my windshield cracked multiple times by rocks kicked up by trucks. I replaced it three times in two years. Sadly it got hit by a driver that refused to stop. It wasn’t totaled, they fixed it but it just wasn’t the same. I had put about 300k miles on it so I couldn’t find one and I bought an Accord Coupe, ok but not as cool as the Prelude.
I drive a 87’ 2nd gen prelude with 240k miles but amazing for its age. I was also super surprised with the solid feel of the car and build quality that’s close to something of a German car
I’m an original owner of an 88 4WS Si. Guys are always driving up and asking if I want to sell it. Hell no, but parts are very hard to find. I wish Honda hadn’t abandoned me. Manual transmission too. This little woman loves her Prelude. I showed my nephew how to do donuts. Ha😊😂
I had an 88 Prelude XX twin carb model and I loved it. My friend had a fuel injected model and he would smoke me, but then I didn't drive it into a steel dumpster, lol. Wish I had kept it and looked after it. Best car I ever had.
On god 4th gen prelude got the best Interior came with bucket seats from factory designed by recaro and has led dash way better that integra
Very nice video. I own a 1997 BB9 and an 1985 BA2. And i love the strange 80s steering wheel in my second Gen Prelude. :D I hope Honda don't revive the Prelude. In my opinion it's the only car line with the production be stopped, before new Generations got ugly in the early 2000s. I like all 5 Generations and the second is my favorite.
Best car I ever owned was an 86 SI. I was young and often treated her badly, but she ran forever. Wish I still had her.
My favorite car, ever that I've owned. Probably mostly the time in life I owned it. But the 4th gen Prelude is timeless to me. I still have one to this day. I've always thought a 90-91 2.1 SI would be awesome to have as well. I test drove one as a 15yr old once. It was amazing, but nothing compared to the 4th I later got.
The 91-99 great years for honda and still running today,amazing cars 95 civic most stolen car in the 90s
Still have my 5th gen 2000 Prelude with 40K miles on it. Second owner and bone stock. Fun summer car and all things on it work. 😄
Should update this and add the 2026 “Concept” Prelude
I bought my 2001 Prelude in 2002. Still daily drive her. I need to show her some love tho. Not sure if you mispronounced Celica on purpose or not. Gave me a chuckle.
Couple of errors with dates but a cool video. 1984 was when the flip up headlight gen was introduced with 1986 being the first year of the 2.0 Si fuel injected model.
Thank you! I should have specified my dates were for the North American market. It is slightly different in other markets
9:35 I own a 91 3rd gen with the sohc carb engine, which is the euro model called the ex, so yea not really accurate, but it's also kind of the below base model. still a great car, i love it
I should have specified I was talking about the North American market.
@@AcuraAdviceah ok, seems fair as all markets would be e bit extensive
What do you think of the Tokyo unveiling of the Prelude this past week?
Cool to see that its a coupe, I didnt expect that. Its kinda cool looking I guess, I'm not much of a hybird fan so not really something that would interest me, but I realize that is the direction all new cars are going.
Was the last 2 generations ever received a refresh?
Love educational videos on the Prelude generations. Lost but not forgotten.👍 Pretty obvious I prefer 5th gen. Electric Prelude how is that post to line up with the other generations Yuck.😝
I owned a 1980 Prelude, a 1988 Prelude Si 4WS and a 1994 Prelude VTEC. Always wanted a second generation Prelude but never got one. I loved all of mine but the one with 4 wheel steering was exceptional. It was very classy in its day. I will likely buy the new 6th generation if Honda doesn’t screw it up and give it a weak engine option.
@11:20 OMG Dr. Ruth!!! Talk about 90’s throw back. For those not alive then Dr. Ruth was big time and everywhere because she was America's foremost sex therapist.
Omg I didn't even recognise that was her!
Why do the inside of the front tires wear out,is it strut or control arm brushing i dont get it,or tie rod alinement
Some common causes are tie rods, alignment issues, worn ball joints or incorrectly inflated tires
The 91 Prelude was the best! Amazing cars.
Facts 2nd and 3rd was my favorite out of all of them
You deserve more subs, so I subbed. Build it and they will come.
I bought a 94 recently and swapped an f22b2 into it just to save it from the junk yard.
I know a guy who put a 5th gen h22 into his 3rd gen prelude. Yep then he turbo'd it. Pretty ultimate prelude right there. I have a 5th gen automatic, currently collecting parts for the 5sp swap.
That would be the ultimate Prelude for sure!
80s honda prelude was the best... regret never buying one to this day... honda should have kept the design for another 20 years...
I Owned a 4ws prelude and that was the best vehicle. I have ever triggered in my life
ILOVE my 5th gen.
i want a 5th gen so badly, but its impossible to find a clean one.
I want a Celeeka!
This makes me wanna pull out the old girl out of storage and restore her to former glory. 4th gen is hands down the most unique one.
Why would you make Civic Si, Integra and Prelude all fwd 2 door coupes at the same time. Makes no sense.
I believe the sales dropped drastically with the fourth GEN because they abandoned the look of the former Preludes which sold like hotcakes. I think the fifth generation fail just because of the price point. I wanted one new but by the fifth GEN the price was not affordable. So I bought a 2001 SH used years later.
I had a 2003 Acura 3.2 CL !! I loved her … believe it or not she got me ass all the way in 2016 lol
They are great cars!
I had a 91 accord odo broke before i got it at 278,000 or it might of have a 99,000 odo which it broke at 86,000 they said it broke at 286,000 years before i got it motor was like new
I had a 90 si in white and loved it. I e been pronouncing it like Pray’lude. Is it Pree Lude or pray lude? Is this an AI voice reading because it pronounced the Celica as seelaka and not sellaka…
Im not from the US, in Canada its pronounced the way I said it. I didnt know it was different in the us till i started getting all these comments lol. Im definitly not ai 😂
@@AcuraAdvice just wanted to make sure! Great video!
Lmao he said ohh God on the vacuum diagram
I have 90% stock 1990 prelude and i got it for 250€
wow! Thats a deal!
It's pronounced prey-lood right? Not pre-lood?
Yes...
I had the fourth generation prelude and the car was awesome. The fifth generation destroyed the Honda prelude.
I always thought the fourth GEN destroyed the prelude. The design had no resemblance to the former generations which I think is why there was the huge drop in sales at the fourth generation. Performance was good but I stopped having interest in Preludes when I saw the fourth GEN and returned at the fifth GEN when the familiar body lines returned
Dude .. I just saw an old Motor Week from 1984 where John Davis was calling the Camry a "Cam- Ray" ... which everyone ridiculed. Now here you are calling the Prelude a "pree-lude" and the Celica a "Celeeca" ... wtf is wrong with people? These cars have been on the market for 4 decades and people still can't pronounce the names?
The way I said Celica is correct (for Canada where I live) it is only pronounced sell ick ca in the US everywhere else its "celeeca"
@@AcuraAdvice Fair enough. Now we gotta work on your Pree-lude (which name derives from the music world, even in Canada) and then pray that you never say "Cam-Ray" ... ;)
Oh ill definitly never say cam ray...that blows my mind ill have to look up that episode lol
@@AcuraAdvice By the way this was a GREAT video that I just watched until the end. I tried to find fault and there is none. What a well put together history with vintage clips and a touch of awesome Regular Car Reviews humor. It really drew my attention. Definitely subbing! Looking forward to more
Thanks so much!! More on the way! Ill to pronouce things correctly in the next one 😂
Take advice from a Sex Therapist. That was Dr. Ruth Westheimer. The connection was it’s a sexier revamped Prelude👍
ah...now I understand the ad!
@@AcuraAdvice Yep she was legitimate and she would make her television rounds on talk shows such as: David Letterman? Jay Leno.
“Pree” lude? Pronunciation hurts my soul. Even the GD commercial pronounced it right and yet you still continue v
AND SELL-ica !!😢
I think your video is really great, however, your mispronunciation of both Celica and Prelude distracted me from the content.
My Honda prelude still goes at 285,000 miles, the engine feels new and it’s from 87😂
Thanks for the video Except for the mispronounciation of SELL-ica & PRAY-LUDE. Forgive me for asking, But How old are you & and maybe What is your nation of birth? Thanks!! 😊
I'm Canadian, the way I pronounced Celica is the way it is pronounced in Canada and other english speaking countries outside of the US, if you watch a Canadian/British/Aussie Celica commercial you will hear they say it the way I do. Also Preelude is the way I have always heard it pronounced in my 8+ years working at Honda dealer, so I think its a western Canada thing. I had no idea it was said differently in the US until I started getting all these comments lol.
Great video...but it's pronounced "Prey-lude"
Yes...the internet has made me very aware of that now 😂🤷♂️
Dont see it as a fall. I see it as a cya later. I myself have an 800hp h22 lsd Prelude i drive daily 2001
The Accord Coupe killed the Prelude.
And then Honda killed the Accord Coupe
"...And Rise...."
Am I the only one going nuts over how he pronounces Celica??🥴
No you're not, all American's are going nuts about it in my comments because its not they way they say it 🤷♂️ its pronounced different in Canada
Still do not understand why Prelude exist especially whe# they made accord coupe.
Because accord never got anybody laid
A shame Honda does not make the sport coupés Prelude and CRX, based on Accord and Civic, respectively. But I guess its only SUV that sells now. Sports coupés are not cool anymore.
Sad but true
*It never fell*
sell-ick-uh
AMEN. WTH is a Se-Lee-Cuh? or a Pree-lude for that matter?
I pray every day that Honda leaves the prelude legacy alone. Enough with this name tarnishing travesty reboots already.
Amen!
And the rise again 😅 😊
Its pronounced: "Prey," lude. I had an 89 and a 94. Thank you. Im sorry. You're Canadian.