First-gen Honda Prelude under the hammer
1981 Honda Prelude
1981 Honda Prelude
1981 Honda Prelude
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1981 Honda Prelude
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1981 Honda Prelude
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1981 Honda Prelude
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Good examples are thin on the ground
If you were looking for an economical way to get into collectible cars, this early Honda Prelude might be a good option. It's up for auction tomorrow at Lloyds.
First-gen Preludes were built 1978-81.
The company was still a relatively minor player in the car world at that stage, though it had already built some very desirable two-doors in the form of the S500/600/800 series.
This car borrowed a lot of compnentry from the Accord family car, such as engine, struts and brakes. However the stubby boot and long snout clearly marked it as a sporty model, even if the standard 80 horsepower 1600cc four-cylinder engine was no fire-breather.
By all reports they were nevertheless a lot of fun to drive, with nimble handling from the front-wheel-drive set-up. All up, it weighed under 1000kg.
This example has the three-speed auto, with third selected as an overdrive.
Instrumentation is very distinctive - it's the early 'centralised' dash layout. That was much criticised at the time, but is probably more collectible than the more conventional facelift version from the same year.
First-gen Preludes were built 1978-81.
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