Friday 31st December 2010

SOTW: Honda Prelude

Shed feels the Vtec kicking in with the last SOTW of 2010

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There are some things that, no matter how dated they are, will always look like they are from the future. Even if that future turns out not, in fact, to exist. The Sinclair C5 is one such item, the robot from Lost In Space is another. And the fourth generation of Honda Prelude is another.

It is so of its time that it cannot be mistaken for a design from any other era than the early 1990s - and yet even now the Prelude looks somehow futuristic. The swooping dash, the impossibly low-slung snout; it's all just how we thought cars would look now. They don't, of course, and that's part of the appeal - a Prelude seems like a little slice of a future that could have been.

Now that little slice of the Super Nintendo-era vision of tomorrow is comfortably available for Shed money. And it wasn't just the looks of the 90s Prelude that was all hi-tech either. Although the pop-up lights had by now disappeared, the Prelude still featured four-wheel steering and a clever and revvy 2.2-litre Vtec powerplant (in top-spec trim at least). There was even an in-dash telly available as an option for Japanese customers.

These days, 183bhp doesn't sound like all that much from 2.2 litres, but it was still enough to chuck the Prelude along at 140mph, and to reach 62mph from a standing start in 7.1sec, a figure that remains quite acceptable.

This particular example is a full UK car with a decent service history and only 2 previous owners - which is good. Unfortunately, the vendor neglects to mention the mileage - which is (possibly) bad.

More annoying still, somebody has had a mild fiddle around with Honda's original design, fitting a de-cat Remus exhaust system, some aftermarket alloys and an induction system.

The alloys don't come with the car, however. Or rather - they do, but the owner wants another 300 quid for the dubious privilege of owning them, thus pushing the whole thing beyond the thousand-pound reach of Shed. But then we'd probably rather take the original wheels any way...

Advert reproduced below

For sale -

1995 Honda prelude 2.2 vtec in malachite green (Pearl Green)

Fantastic facelift UK car with loads of extras and the famous vtec engine.
For anyone who has owned a honda prelude vtec will know just how fast and reliable they are.
The easiest way to describe the vtec system is like a small turbo boost at 5250RPM - giving you the full 190BHP power!

Features the car has -
- Full LCD dash with the Electrolumiscent Speedo and rev counter
- HKS induction Kit
- New Full Years MOT
- Full Stainless steel De-CAT exhaust with Remus Backbox
- Front Strut Brace
- Upgraded one peice Polycarbonate JDM headlights
- Optional Team Dynamics 17" Shadow chrome alloy wheels all with TOYO Proxes
- Electric Sunroof, windows and mirrors
- Cruise Control
- Power Steering
- ABS
- 4 Wheel Steering
- Euro Sideskirts
- CD Player

History -
The car is a UK car so easy to insure and has 2 previous owners.
The car has FULL service history and this does reflect in the quietness of the engine and the speed of it.
I have owned many a prelude in the past and this comes up there with the best of them and is easily as fast or faster than a JDM prelude as well.

Bodywork -
The bodywork is in great shape - its the malachite green pearl colour and if you look into the paint on a sunny day there are a variety of colors in there!! - no major marks or dents or scratches either.

They normally suffer with very bad rust issues!! This prelude has none really - very small tiny rust as per the pics and a small amount on the sunroof.
The car is pictured with basically new - 17" Team Dynamic Alloy wheels - all with newish toyo proxes tyres - if you want them with the car they would be £300.00 extra - if not then it will come with the standard alloy wheels pictured all with great tyres as well.

Overall the car is becoming a rare sports coupe - its drives fantastic with a responsive engine and great gearbox.
First to see will buy as its a great example

[Vic Cooper]

Never been a fan of the jap interiors, but I quite like the shape. Would be a motoring icon with RWD I guess.

Edited by Vic Cooper on Friday 31st December 00:56

[Vic Cooper]

Deluded said:

Can get a 5th gen for really not a lot more. Fantastic, underrated cars.




That was mine for a while. Loved it!

You picked the two best angles The front looks a bit weird on this one with those headlights IMO. Lovely interior, tho. I was thinking on it (but never had due to the ridiculous road tax in ROI, which was 830 Euro/year - and don't mention the insurance for a Honda here...) as a quick, good-lookin' transport for a single dumbass like me

[Vic Cooper]

nottyash said:

This was my UK car, now owned by another Pistonhead.
I love Preludes and have had 4 all manual 2.2 VTIs. Very underated, but dont tell anyone as its keeping prices reasonable.
I still have a supermarine blue gen 5 version sat on the drive with the later red top engine. They were 1999/ 2000 cars with power upped to 200BHP and heated seats.

Nice example!

[Vic Cooper]

Smike said:

Vic Cooper said:

You picked the two best angles The front looks a bit weird on this one with those headlights IMO. Lovely interior, tho. I was thinking on it (but never had due to the ridiculous road tax in ROI, which was 830 Euro/year - and don't mention the insurance for a Honda here...) as a quick, good-lookin' transport for a single dumbass like me

As an aside Vic, what happened to your old Laguna V6 SOTW?

Ehh... I had to sold it I wanted to register the car on irish plates then turned out the road tax would be 1260 euro/year (instead of the 180 quid in the UK!). So I used it on UK plates for a half a year. Later there were signs that it'd be better to get rid of the car as around me all cars on UK plates (and NI or PL) has been tow'd away by the customs. Actually I haven't lost a penny as I sold it for the same money with 4500 extra miles on the clock I liked it very much, few boyracers had to notice that the family shell contains a suprise in the engine bay

[Vic Cooper]

I'd burn it if there would be rust anywhere on a 11 years old body.