The Honda Prelude has enjoyed some renewed excitement in the vintage car marketplace in recent years, particularly when found in low mileage, survivor-grade condition in a desirable color. Like most cars presenting to be sporty, the lack of real performance has always hurt the Prelude in the marketplace as it relates to being perceived as a true sports car. It’s not, so when found in project form, it demands an owner who simply appreciates it for being a classic over-engineered Honda product. Find this 1982 Prelude here on Facebook Marketplace where it’s offered with no title and the seller entertaining trades for a golf cart!
Thanks to Barn Finds reader Sam61 for the tip. This is a first-generation Prelude, when Honda began to get a bit adventurous in its product offerings. If nothing else, you can appreciate the Prelude as a mile marker in Honda’s history as it explored doing more than just producing fuel-sipping Civics and bread-and-butter Accord sedans. The Prelude would also become a bit of an innovation showcase for the company, as it dipped a toe into technologies like four-wheel steering, VTEC, and the clever Active Torque Transfer System, or ATTS. As the earliest example of a Prelude in the U.S., this example obviously features none of those things.
But it still had all the great hallmarks of a classic Honda, including a driver-focused cockpit, a surprisingly high level of build quality, and a phenomenal manual gearbox. It’s shame that Honda, like many manufacturers, is moving away from conventional manual transmissions, as they build some of the best in the business. This particular Prelude is downright tidy inside, and the no title issue seems to be impacting what would otherwise be a great example of a Prelude project – especially considering how many of these were ordered with the optional automatic transmission at the time.
The 1.8L engine was good for a tepid 72 horsepower in the U.S. when it was introduced, and 94 lb.-ft. of torque. The seller notes he made some headway on this car before fuel system issues stopped him, and he suspects that rust in the gas tank is the culprit. The lack of title and fuel system issues definitely limit the potential interest in this Prelude project, but hopefully someone in a state with less stringent title requirements (there are plenty of them) will figure out a way to get this Prelude back on the road and save it from going to the scrapyard or becoming a parts car.
I find it a bit unsettling that after 11 hours, the guy that doesn’t really care for Asian cars, is the 1st to comment on this. Despite my personal feelings, these were absolutely wonderful cars, until about 100K or so. Many took the place of that LTD, and had big shoes to fill. They were driven rough. My experience was I had a newer Honda, had 200K, original motor went at 100K, replacement motor went south at also 100K, you tell me. I know, “I have 8 jillion miles on my so and so”,,,for the most part, unmaintained, like most were, once the rust set in, and it didn’t take long, my pretty,,,they became beaters. For a long time, I remember “northern” Honda motors were in demand for cars down south. They generally ran cooler and many rusted Hondas were driven into the junkyards. While it may be a shame companies no longer offer manual transmissions, the bigger shame is how these companies lost their way, when this is what folks wanted along. Great find.
Soichiro Honda the founder 🇯🇵 🏁
FWIW Mr. Honda was against building cars. Fortunately for the company, the board of directors outvoted him.
Yeah I could definitely see this as a tuner. Nothing too crazy mind you, it already has some pretty tasteful fairings on the wheel openings. But no tire destroying negative camber and no fart can muffler.
Early 80s Hondas were a bit sensitive to the tin worm, but this car appears free from rust. Yay! But the fact it’s running state equals its title status is a Nay!
It could be a perfect “parts supplier” for someone who has another one.
Nice find. Good condition for its vintage. Regarding rust, the worst of the early Hondas were the Accords. Civics and Preludes rusted at the same pace or slower than their domestic counterparts. The CVCC engines were a marvel of engineering brilliance. With that said, the later fuel injected Hondas were a huge improvement. one thing to watch for is a collapsed reactor plate inside of the exhaust manifold (kills performance). I have retired three Civics with over 300k miles each, and we currently daily drive a Civic and a CRV with 200k each. All original engines, and good running cars when sold.
I had a ’79 Civic with the CVCC engine. While reliable, it wasn’t particularly quick. I sold it for what I paid for it.
Can’t even remember when was the last time I saw one of these on the road in the Northeast. Around here the bodies rusted out so badly. I see a little rust on the undercarriage but really gotta say this one is in great shape. Like the manual tranny, moonroof and red interior. Very cool find!
“No Title” is quickly becoming the next pandemic. Why has the simple automobile title become so hard to keep track of? Even if lost a duplicate is not hard to procure with a current registration and identification. I just cannot understand how people lose so necessary a document so easily. 🤷🏽♂️🤦🏼♂️🤯
I hear ya’. Another pet peeve of mine is no owners manual in the glove box. I mean, what good does it do in the magazine rack in the bathroom?
It’s a replacement in case the toilet paper is also missing.
So many states just don’t require bothering with titles after 30 years.