A concept car is the official name for Honda’s updated Prelude, which appeared at the Tokyo Motor Show this year. Even though it’s not official, we like to call this a prototype almost ready for production. We can’t be sure what will happen in the future, but we can tell the difference between a production car treated like a “concept” car and a final concept car used as a design study or to find out what the public thinks. We think this Prelude idea is the second one. Why does this happen? Look at the body directly. The rear bumper covers, side skirts, windshield wipers, rearview mirrors, and back and front bumpers all have cuts. As Judge Potter Stewart said, “We know a production car when we see it.” On the other hand, we still need to learn more about the manufacturing Prelude’s technical parts. We can make some claims that seem reasonable. In this case, the Prelude idea was probably made using the same modular framework that supports cars like the Civic and Accord. In this way, the Prelude will mainly replace Honda’s now-discontinued Civic coupe and, to a lesser extent, the Accord coupe. Honda said the Prelude concept is a hybrid, but it didn’t say what kind of engine it has. The hybrid system in the Prelude is probably from the CR-V, the Accord, or the Civic Hybrid that is coming out soon. One thing that is certain to happen is that Honda will make a “mild-hybrid” setup that uses a generator and starter to power the gas engine in the Prelude. If the company goes this way, the Prelude might have a transmission with more than one speed. Remember, though, that this is all just a guess; we’re not promising anything. We’d bet a good amount of money that the Prelude idea turns into a natural Prelude. We can only hope that Honda will make a version of the car with a standard manual drive.
