The Honda Prelude made its debut in 1978 to compete with sport coupes like the Toyota Celica and Nissan Silvia. Honda would use the flagship model as a test bed for experimental concepts and innovative firsts. Take, for example, the concentric tach-within-a-speedometer dash in this Japanese commercial. It’s visually dazzling, which is probably why it didn’t catch on to later generations (or any other model, for that matter). The ad also makes hay of the sunroof. as the SN Prelude was also the first Japanese car to offer one that opened electronically.
Cool! You spotted that tach as well! 😉
I saw that CM last week and started searching for other Prelude CM videos to see if I could see it in a longer shot… I did not find any commercials with a longer shot, however I did think this promotional video was the best:
The music sounds like it was taken from a romantic Love Boat scene! 😀
BTW: wasn’t the Honda 1300 coupe meant to compete with the Nissan Silvia CSP311?
Actually, this was carried over to the Honda City Turbo. Maybe other City models as well, but I know at least it was in the Turbo models.
the Prelude was also the first to offer 4 wheel steering, I remember the the hot girl in high school next door got it and wanted to show me, so we went for a long ride…
Thats the summer I bacame a man…. man I’m old…..ugh
That’s why we like old cars 🙂
Fiat uses this feature in their new iteration of the 500. I guess they copied it from Honda!
The Mazda 626 and MX6 both had 4 wheel steering as well. 🙂
Sunroof was a standard feature on most Prelude, Japanese road authorities demanding metal rather than glass at first on JDM 1st gens!
Concentric dash too wild for N.American Preludes & went ordinary for ’81 though most other markets kept it until the model change for ’83.
2nd gen introduced Anti-Lock Brakes (& digital Dash?).
3rd gen introduced 4Wheel Steering.
5th gen introduced ATTS Torque controlled Differential