It's no secret that the market for sport coupes has been shrinking. The combination ofhigh insurance costs and America's dizzying love affair with sport-utility vehicles
has taken the starch out of sporty car sales, and a number of manufacturers are
re-examining their product priorities relative to this once-healthy segment.
Honda is one such manufacturer, and the Honda Prelude is the car that's imperiled as a
result.
Originally introduced in 1979, the Prelude has gone through five evolutions, the most
recent--and dramatic--coming along in 1991 for the 1992 model year.
The latest redesign transformed the Prelude from a pleasant, but rather tepid, compact
that was easily outperformed by Honda's smaller CRX-Si, to one of the stars of its
class.
The Prelude's handling set new standards for front-drive cars in its price/size
category, and when the 190-hp VTEC version came along for 1993, it offered performance
that rivalled the Nissan 300ZX.
To see how the latest Prelude was holding up versus competing makes that have