Rumor Has it: 2017 Prelude Concept Out by the end of the Year

Do you remember the 2+2 sports car Honda Prelude, which was inspired by the Accord's body, being just a notch more aggressive in its looks and rocking a sportier suspension? Despite its good sales numbers Honda went for the sensible decision (as generally most companies did) to discontinue the sporty model and replace it with the more reasonable Accord Coupe.

Guess what? Our source at Honda UK, says that the company might bring back to life the Prelude with a 2017 Honda Prelude Concept coming up hopefully by the end of 2016 with a possible production year - 2020. Further more the car won’t have the front wheel drive chassis of the Accord but it will sport a longer wheelbase and share some characteristics with the S2000. If that proves to be true, the Prelude will come as a proper rear wheel drive sports car and cost approximately $31,000. Continuing the Prelude would actually be a smart move, having in mind that younger people find the sporty-looking cars much more appealing. Taking into account the other cars that the brand has recently released and having looked at some upcoming cars' sketches, we've designed a computer Reder of how the Prelude might possibly look like. Similarly to its predecessor, the 2017 Prelude might have its unique design scheme, rather than just being the hardtop version of the S2000 car.

Among the exterior improvements we'll be seeing a brand new front end, a more aggressive rear end, pillar-less doors and hopefully a sloping roof, which would create the visual impression of a longer car. We can’t see the Prelude sporting the long hood of the S2000, but then having in mind how many components both cars will be sharing, this assumption might prove to be wrong.

Even though the Prelude will be on the more luxurious side of things, it will still sport the conventional bucket seats as well as regular features of a sports car – with a twist, of course. The materials will be of higher quality, while the cabin will offer much quieter and nicer ride – something more typical for the luxurious coupes rather than the sports one.

In contrast to the Muscle car segment, the 2017 Honda Prelude Concept will focus on fuel efficiency and raw performance. This means that it’s highly unlikely that it will sport a large V6 or V8 engines, and if anything - it will be geared with a new 1.5 liter turbocharged inline 4 petrol engine, which will be able to turn 235 horsepower and 200 lb-ft of torque. Even though a Mustang GT would be able to outperform the Prelude, it is still powerful enough for anyone interested in a car that gives you the perfect combo of good performance and a highly efficient engine.

Of course, there is also possibility of a 2-liter turbocharged engine, producing around 300 horsepower and 265 lb-ft of torque. With this engine then the Prelude will be able move its body from 0 to 60 MPH in only 5 seconds thanks to its rear wheel drive layout and a f1 style dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Would this concept see the podium lights ? It depends on you. Why ? Because companies operate on supply and demand, if there isn't demand for a vehicle it will not be produced. It's as simply as that. Companies now rely only on statistics, which most of us know that are not always corrects. So what can we do. Be active, show your friends the concept, make some noise about it, post in forums, open threats, comment, write emails etc. The main reason the car was discontinued was because although it had a decent fan base, it didn't pay out to make a new model car for the people that demanded a coupe, rather than that they decided to do the same trick VW did with the passat, ditching the Corrado and the Scirocco, instead they did cosmetic changes to the Passat and released it as the "coupe car" for the brand marked as the cc. The same thing happened with the S2k and the Prelude.