Following the reveal of the Honda Prelude Concept at the Japan Mobility Show, the automaker confirmed that the legendary sports coupe is slated to reappear in 2025 as a gasoline-electric hybrid. While Japan’s second-largest automaker will produce the new Prelude for domestic market production, online reports suggest that it will reappear in the U.S. market as well. 

While Honda Motor Company CEO Toshihiro Mibe has pledged to sell 2 million battery electric vehicles and fuel cells globally in 2030, the company has yet to develop its own electric vehicle platform. Its first EV, the 2024 Honda Prologue, below, will be built by General Motors. This is why Honda’s initial electrification efforts will include gas-electric hybrids until its own EV platform is ready. 

The new Prelude will get an updated rendition of Honda’s two-motor hybrid system according to Automotive News. However, Honda didn’t reveal what that system’s specifications might be. But Honda chief engineer Tomoyuki Yamagami is quoted by Australian magazine CarsGuide as saying that the Prelude “isn’t going to be the sportiest, zippiest car that’s going to be tossed into the circuits.” 

It’s also known to be a four-seater, so expect it to be a 2+2, available in left- and right-hand drive configurations.

The Prelude was just one of Japan’s iconic sports car to be reimagined for the EV age, as Mazda revealed a rotary-engine hybrid MX-5 Miata, and Nissan showed an all-electric GT-R.

1996 Honda Prelude VTEC.

The Honda Prelude debuted in Japan in 1978, reaching America the following year. With the release of the second-generation model in 1983, its U.S. popularity soared. The sports coupe pioneered the use of double-wishbone suspension, fuel injection and electronic variable valve timing, features that later would find their way onto the Honda Accord and Civic. It was dropped in 2002, with U.S. sales totaling 832,549 units since its inception.

Tantalizingly, the new Honda Prelude is said by Yamagami to be a prelude for all of Honda’s future electric vehicles.