You recognize the reborn Prelude has been a very long time coming when it’s making a second look on the Goodwood Pageant of Velocity, and you continue to can’t purchase one. Honda introduced an idea to final 12 months’s occasion and returned this previous weekend with a near-production prototype. Not like its first outing within the UK, this time the Prelude ran up the well-known hill. Honda additionally allowed bystanders to sit down contained in the completed cabin, a pointy distinction to 2024’s strategy when the doorways had been locked and the home windows coated to dam prying eyes.

A brand new walkaround video shot in the course of the pageant showcases two flavors of the Prelude, together with the Enhance Blue Pearl automotive that tackled the hill climb. Primarily, the three-door liftback picks up the place the Civic Coupe left off and appears decently sensible regardless of its sloping roofline. It encompasses a split-folding rear seat, permitting you to suit two passengers within the again, supplied they’re not too tall.

As you’d count on, rear visibility is compromised by the thick C-pillars, however that’s the worth of a smooth coupe design. Inside, the structure borrows closely from the Civic and Integra, so most of it ought to really feel acquainted. Whereas each of these fashions supply a stick, the sixth-generation Prelude will likely be automatic-only. The quirky CR-Z as soon as mixed a handbook with an electrified powertrain, however sadly, that’s not the case right here.

Although you may’t row your personal gears, Honda has added an S+ button to allow “sharper simulated shifts,” mimicking an eight-speed gearbox by way of paddles mounted behind the steering wheel. The fakery doesn’t cease there since engine noise can be artificially enhanced. Given Honda’s push towards electrification and more and more strict emissions requirements, a purely gas-powered Prelude with a correct handbook appears unlikely.

Regardless of debuting again in October 2023 on the Tokyo Mobility Present, Honda stays tight-lipped in regards to the technical specs. Nonetheless, it has confirmed that the Prelude will inherit the Civic Sort R’s dual-axis entrance suspension and adaptive dampers. It’s additionally mentioned to have wider entrance and rear tracks than the Civic, a shorter wheelbase, a ten% lighter physique, elevated rigidity, and a stiffer suspension setup.

Don’t count on to chase Nürburgring lap occasions, although. Honda has already mentioned the Prelude gained’t be “the sportiest, zippiest automotive that is going to be tossed into the circuits.” Whether or not it could stay as much as the legacy of earlier generations stays to be seen. The design doesn’t precisely reference the previous, however seeing the glass half full, at the least Honda didn’t flip it right into a Prelude SUV. I am taking a look at you, Mitsubishi Eclipse.

The brand new Prelude will go on sale in the US later this 12 months and arrive in Europe in 2026.