Totally Rad Retro Vibes with this Perfectly Pristine 1984 Prelude! 

Thanks for the great service on the Prelude Wizard! What is your Prelude story/experience? If we can’t find new rear struts I will source a good used one for the rt rear. This car is going to be put up for auction on Cars & Bids NO RESERVE! I will put a link on this thread when live. Here is the link to my overview video. Have a great day and happy motoring! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2pzc24_lQpM.htmlsi=XcxcLsJmAbBWBhku

This is what car companies need to make again. A reliable, simple. easy to maintain vehicle that doesn’t cost a fortune. No massive screens and gadgets to distract the driver from how much they paid for a poorly made machine.

Don't let your daughter drive it!!

Still driving my Red 91, all stock, 75k miles.

I love watching old shows from the 70's and 80's just to see the old cars in the background.

I bought a 1986 Prelude Si manual transmission with 120K miles in 1992 and sold it in 1997 with 225K. Best car I ever owned! Nothing ever broke down and the guy that bought it from me kept it for 5 more years as far as I know. Bulletproof.

I had an 88 Si 4ws 5 speed. Its the most fun car Ive ever driven to this day and the car that got me hooked on Honda. The build quality of these were above and beyond anything on the road today, especially the interiors. Youd just sit in it and say wow. Coming from a plymouth reliant it was such a huge step up. Steeting brakes shifter clutch throttle all felt like they were engineered to work together to deliver a super fun handling car. I miss it.

my friend Kenn owned a yellow 4 wheel steering Prelude that he LOVED but didn't keep up with the required maintenance ...We were going on a 7 days ski vacation - So I took it to my mechanic to get the clutch - front and rear brake job and a tune up .. The owner of the shop decided to take it for a " TEST DRIVE " after the work was done and he drove it back n forth to work all week long ! He LOVE driving it . When my friend went to pay for it the owner decided to take $400 off the repair bill and told him that was blown away as to just how nice it was to drive it !

My first car was an '84 Prelude I purchased during my senior year in highschool. This car was a fresh breath of liberty and very popular at the time. I am glad to see that Honda will be resurrecting the Prelude namesake but obviously with a modern touch. Thank you Wizard Fam and Hoovie for sharing this gem with us.

Even the last Gen preludes are rare to see now, I'm starting to think the world just generates random perfectly mint old cars 😂.

40 years old & looking good. We don't get younger otoh... Golden era indeed for Japanese automakers.

Keeping the trunk secure means someone can't break into the car through a window and gain access to the trunk where someone might have valuables or firearms stored.

I see a Prelude, I click! Love my 1995 Si with H23A VTEC swap. 😄

The vacuum system is rather frightening 😮

You're right, used to see these old Ludes everywhere, and I no longer see them. Time really does get away from us!

Cleaner than my toilet!

I just loved the Preludes, my favorite is a red, manual version.1984 1985, 1986..love them so much.

Classic Honda feature that still exists to this day the extra locks is because the car came with a valet key which only unlocks door and starts this key does not allow access to the trunk or glove box. The main key is used to lock the trunk release handle or to also drop the back seat. Modern Honda still have the key lock on the floor and a switch in the glove box to disable the trunk release remote

Honda and Acura FWD engines ran counterclockwise, when looking at accessories/drive belts. With engine redesigns in early 2000's, to promote better emissions, and allow transmissions by other makers, the engines now turn clockwise. So, the transmissions were mounted on the left side of engine compartment from then on. FYI.

My grandfather bought one of these for my grandmother. Converted him, and he bought nothing but Honda for the rest of his life. This car got him off of Mercury.

I drove my drivingschool in one of those. It was a 16 valve variant with a manual. Imstill felt how the seats felt on my back with a narrow sholderarea above sidebolstering… that little car is a gem!

There weren't any of these preludes in 80s in my old hood. But definitely were a couple in 90s. Exquisite example. Rare as gold. ❤💛💜👌😎

Still driving my 84 CRX in very similar condition to this. No joke on the vacuum system being both amazing and complex at the same time. Driving a car of this era will draw a crowd at every gas station, trust me.

I had a 1987 Prelude Si 5 speed. It was the same body style as this, but it had fuel injection. It was the best car I ever owned. I wish Honda would re-release their fuel injected cars from this era. They where bullet proof compared to today's standards. I sold this car with 200k on it. I outgrew the car had to sell, but it was still running strong. I bet the next guy put at least another 100k on it.

I had a 1983 Accord, it was the best car I've ever owned and that was only a few years ago. Felt so comfy.

Honda was on top of the world in the 80s in terms of quality and design. I was in high school in the 80s and the cool kids had these.

I owned a 1988 Prelude Si in the early 2000s one of the most fun to drive cars I've ever owned.

Might want to talk to Koni. They have those "Cut-A-Struts" for less common vehicles and you may be able to find somehting that works. used them for my 2012 Mazda6. They use the old strut body and replace the hydraulic bit with a new cartridge that fits inside the old strut body. Good luck.

Around here you can bairly find a door of one let alone a beautiful example like that !

Mrs. Wiz...in 87 i had 4 adults and 2 100 lbs dobermans in that 84 Prelude for a 150 mile road trip...it was a little close quarters i must say...lol

What a treat to see such a nice example of this car. Thanks Car Wizard!

i love those preludes

My older brother bought one in ‘84. I loved driving that thing!! I was King of cool. 100 dual carbed horsepower. The stick shift was so smooth. Have to add 104 mph top speed. Verified many times.

My uncle owns a pampered (mint) condition '88 SI 4WS (and no the 4WS has not been deactivated and works - makes for some interesting sensations) - so I do see one quite regularly in the summer (but yes your right - you don't see them often in the wild these days, and a pleasure to see this one so please thank Euroasian Bob for finding it and showing it off). 🙂 They sure are fun cars!

I bought a red 85 Prelude, drove it for 28 years. Then my son drove it for 5 years and then gave it to my daughter. She's driving it now and loves it as much as me and my son love this car.

Great video, wizard & Mrs. Wizard! I owned a red 1986 manual and a Geneva green 1991manual Prelude. Absolutely loved them both. Nothing ever broke on them! I cannot say that about any other cars I have owned over the last 44 years. Honda was really on their game in the 80's and 90's.

No Mrs Wizard - the key-cylinder above the back seat back is actually a release - not a lock. Prevents the seat from folding unless you release the latch with the key.

That car is so clean that I have to remove my shoes before entering it.

Pop Up up and down Headlights!!!!

OMG! I love these. I had an 86’ Accord 5 spd that I bought from a neighbour for $250 in 1990. The interior was like it just came off the showroom floor. The exterior looked like it came out of the scrapyard RUST, RUST, RUST. It drove like a brand new car only had 150K kms on it. It was comical flying past new cars on the highway at 85 mph no problem, in a rust bucket that was a cream puff on the inside and tight driving, no leaks rattles or clunks. I miss that double wishbone suspension. They should’ve never gotten rid of that. Great video, keep it up!😁

I want that so bad. In the 90s I had an 86 accord all lowered like fast and furious way before that movie existed and all I wanted was this prelude!

Beautiful car! My friend's Dad had a red one, loved it.

I had a RED 84 Prelude from HS through college at UCSB and loved it! Fun to see the interior after all these years. It wasn't fast but it handled well with my Continental CH51 tires that saved me from a few car accidents.

1984=40 years old, dang it means my Kid is middle aged. Now that I'm thoroughly depressed, I'm going out to my garage and look at my 1984 Toyota PU and hope nothing breaks. Been stockpiling parts for a few years.

I learned something new today about vacuum in vehicles. Thanks. And I mean that meaningfully, not meaningless. Good Job

Had one! What a rocket! No horsepower, no torque, but power delivery was amazing and so much fun

5:12 the damn golf tee hose plug! 😂

Loved that generation of Prelude. Honda in general was awesome in the 80’s. My favorite car was an ‘84 civic S

Thay dash has so much room for activities!

Wow! What a trip down memory lane. I had an '84 Prelude I bought used when I was in the service. It had just shy of 90K miles on it when I bought it, and I drove that little thing everywhere. Including cross-country a few times. I finally got rid of it in 2008 when it blew a head gasket at 388K miles.

Had a 1987 accord Lxi fuel injected. Great car. Was a 5 spd. Handled like a race car.

Time capsule!

I daily drive a 1989 Silverado. It had only 150,000 miles on it when I bought it a couple years ago. Pretty low miles for a truck that old. It also had a rebuilt transmission and reman engine put in just 20,000 miles before I bought it. I plan to keep this 80s beast on the road as long as I can. I love the 80s cars and trucks! They have just enough technology to make things comfortable and safe but not so much that you can't work on them yourself. It's a good balance.

Oh man! So I had I 1987 model that looked identical to this. Mine was also a carbureted car, and it needed the valve lash adjusted regularly. Must have been about '94 that I bought it showing 48K from a woman who had put her husband through medical school. Upon his hiring as a full-time physician, she'd been promised a new Volvo, so I bought it for just $5K rather then the $7,800 they were asking because I was standing there with the cash; she didn't want to wait longer for her new ride, and she told me, "Give me about 20 minutes to go into the house and talk to him," then came out with a relaxed, lazy look on her face and signed it over to me. It wasn't fast, but mine was a 5-speed, and it had the power sunroof, and just look at it -- it was kinda cool. I put more than 100,000 miles on it, and ashed thousands of cigarettes (been quit 30 years now) through the slightly open sunroof. I paid to have it totally repainted (deep metallic blue) and put a clutch in it, but otherwise it just needed maintenance. I must've sold it around 2001 to buy a new Celica, and a girl bought it to drive to college. Over time I came to suspect that the odometer had probably been rolled back before I bought it. Even so, it was an '80s Honda, and she probably got another hundred thousand out of it. It served me well to say the least.

I love the cars from the 80s Honda was the best kind of car that you can possibly get back in the day

Awesome!

Loved my 88 accord 5 speed manual coupe with the pop up headlights. So much fun to drive.

It was ahead of its time when this generation came out.

The '86 Luda Si was fun to drive. Earliest Honda I ever owned. Thanks for the flash back.

Sweet Prelude!!

Buddy had one when I was 18, now 42. I always liked that car.

Rode around in the back seat of one of these Preludes when I was a kid, thought it was tight when I was like 8 lol. Our babysitter had a beat to hell 1980ish Accord hatch, tan. Despite it being way rougher and no a/c, it was way nicer to ride around in the back seat. Looking back, it was amazing how much car styling changed in just a few short years. That 1980 Accord looked like a dinosaur(it was 15 years old at the most), the 1986ish Prelude looked old/80's/boxy compared to all the new slippery 90's Hondas running around our streets at the time.

I was in Kindergarten in 1984

Love these 80s/90s Hondas I plan to get ef hatch myself love those little things

I was literally just telling a co-worker how much id love to have my grandpa's old 80s accord because of the beautiful blue interior and the Pop up headlights and boom theres a mint 80s honda with Mr. Wizard standing by it. I hit that play button so quick all u saw was a frickin blurrr

I agree, I'm going to 44 years old and these were everywhere. I remember them falling apart on their last legs and ppl just kept pushing them. Especially kids in high school. This is a keeper. I have an '88 Camry that's a keeper, but getting harder to find parts for that too! Especially comedic. Good luck with the struts, It gets very frustrating. Might have to take a similar struct and have a machine shop fabricate it. Even if you source NOS, the ods are it will be bad/dried out.

As a proxy shipping service based in Japan, I will fetch you the parts! Tell me the parts list/numbers.

Then were popular in Australia too. My neighbour had one with the ALB badge - first car I ever saw with ABS. The first 2 generations looked like confused Accords. We got the first few generations of Accord down under as a 4 door sedan and 2 door (long) hatch - styled like the original AE86 sprinter. The Prelude seemed to be the “notchback” option the Accord (at least for us) didn’t have. It wasn’t until the 3rd gen Prelude that it separated itself enough in appearance to no longer look like an Accord. They were well known as reliable, albeit unexciting cars. Those in my high school with rich parents also got used ones like this as first cars. The seats were a popular swap into older cars and hot rods too.

Shame Honda stopped making the Prelude. They were fun great cars.

Thanks Wizard! As an '80's Toyota owner, I always admired these for their styling and reliability. IIRC at that time, Hondas were much in demand and a smidge pricey for my budget. Euroasian Bob for the win!

I had an '85 5sp Prelude and it was awesome

I restored many of these models and I have never seen any stand the test of time like this.

Started in a 1987 Accord sedan, 5spd with carb. Loved that car. This vintage Hondas are prone to rust on the top section of the rear fender, right above the tire. Love vintage Hondas!

The Honda Prelude was the hottest high school / college car of the 80's and 90's. They were sharp. Offered in a base and an Si. They really weren't as reliable as they were thought to be. They had front CV Joint issues, leaky valve guides, fuel issues, and typically everything except the windshield and tires would prematurely rust out.

I loved those and wanted one so bad. I had a silver Civic hatchback that I absolutely loved. But I always wanted a Prelude, or especially, a CRX.

The last time I saw one of these this nice was when I was 4 years old and riding in the back of my dad's. Gonna send him this video.

I had a 1986 Si of that generation and I swear it handled as well as a Porsche 944 I owned before it, however far easier to live with and more enjoyable to drive for every day use. My Si was fuel injected and far less vacuum hoses. The interior of mine looked very similar with a slightly different texture on the seats, power windows, a different instrument cluster. But mine was grey on grey. The locks on the inside was a security feature to keep someone out of the trunk if someone breaks into the main car, the stuff in the trunk is still safe. The main problem with these is rust. They are quite notorious for that, especially in the northeastern states. Ultimately that is what did mine in.

I had a 88 red

I have a 2001 manual transmission prelude sitting in my garage right now it’s been there for 20 years has 152,000 miles has been fantastic and an absolute dream to drive. I argue to this day the greatest four-cylinder ever made was Honda 2.2 L VTEC.

I bought a 1981 Honda Accord in 1984. 1.8 liter engine with 40K miles on it, 5 speed stick. 45mpg on the highway, plenty of power for Freeway Driving. By far the best car I ever owned. Great video, Thanks for sharing!

I had one of those!!! The same year, and the same color!!!! That sure brings back memories of when I was young, single, and had no real responsibilities. I bought mine used in 1989 and it was a 5-speed manual. I used to love cruising in it with the sunroof open and the stereo going cruising with friends and looking for girls! Thanks for posting this one Wizard!!! I'd LOVE to have another one like that as a summer cruiser and to take to car shows! WOW! I miss that car.

My second car was an ‘85 Prelude that had 68 thousand miles on it. That was in 1996, my Dad picked it up for $3500, it was so clean, we got such a good deal on it, and it was a fantastic car to drive, I’ve always wanted another one, and this one definitely ticks all the boxes, wish I had the cash right now. Those weird safety feature for the trunk actually disabled thieves from stealing my stereo out of there 😂🤣😂

I used to have a brand new 1997 Prelude base model. Let me tell you none of the late model Hondas are built like what they used to in the early 80s and 90s. Right now everything is cutting corners.

Most of those Preludes and other 80s Japanese cars ran until the bodies rusted away, which happened pretty quickly.

In 1986 at the ripe age of 22 i had a decision between buying a new Toyota MR2 or a new Honda Prelude both with manual transmissions. i went with the MR2. don’t regret it one bit but i always loved the simplicity of the prelude. watching this brings back memories of what it could’ve been. Love the dashboard layout and the simplicity of the analog controls. this one was definitely garaged. beautiful condition

I had a girlfriend who had a 1985 Prelude in Black. It really felt like a sports car. Very well built.

A Honda is one of the only cars of that age where the flip-up headlights will still work!

I had the ALTERNATIVE Honda Prelude... A 1989 Acura Integra LS 2door with moonroof. Pop up lights...1.6 dohc 4 cylinder...118hp....and a 5 speed. It was awesome. 😄

The lock for the back seats and seat release by the door is when you give the car to valet. The car came with two keys, a master key and valet key. The master key would unlock everything. The valet key would unlock the doors and start the car. This was so you secure you belongings in the trunk while the car was in valet.

My friends still had his grandfather's 84 Accord in this type of shape a few years ago, and I imagine still does.

My mom had a 1985 carbureted Prelude with an automatic transmission just like this one back in the day. Hers was gray. Since then, I have always wanted to come across one of these cars because today they are classics. My dream car is to find one of these in the SI trim level, which is fuel injected and I would also like to find one with the optional 5 speed manual transmission.

Gas cap locks were so 80s cuz of the fuel crisiss

With all those lines, it still looks easier to work than these newer cars with all the electronics.

A beautiful classic Honda! That A/C would have been dealer-installed kit accessory. The primary reason the OMs have gotten so big these days is more content in the cars. ABS, traction control, CMBS, adaptive cruise, lane keeping, air bags, brake hold, infotainment (hundreds of pages in a current Honda OM), auto-wipers, auto-lighting, auto-highbeam, many screen-pages of vehicle settings, customizable digital instrument cluster themes, etc., all exist on a current Honda and *none* of that would have been on that Honda.

Those Prelude's were the coolest! Reminds me of my first Honda, an '86 Accord hatchback LXi with those pop-up headlights. Had it for 14 years and about 160k trouble free miles on it when I got in a fender-bender accident and sold it to my mechanic. What a great car.

They really were everywhere.. in the early 2000s I still had friends who drove the “kids car” which was an old Honda silver bullet.. they lasted a long time

That was my first new car, 1985 preiude 5mt. Got chills as you walked through the car. I had the five band graphic equalizer option installed in the "hidey hole." A selling feature was the 'variable assist' power steering. The timing belt broke at 55k on mine. Replacement is recommended at 60k but not covered as a maintenance item, and no good will from honda. Fortunately, it's a non-interference engine, so a new one was put on for $150 and was good to go. I had that valve cover off several times to do a valve lash adjustment. Maybe that put extra stress on the timing belt. At 95k, the car was stolen from in front of my house in Paterson, NJ. It was returned stripped a week later and totaled by the insurance company. It had the alloy wheels, which I later saw in the neighborhood on a Chevy Spectrum with the honda center caps removed. They gave me 6k, which i put toward a pre-owned 1988 prelude si 5mt. Another great car, third generation, which ushered in four-wheel steering.

I own a 1985 Carb model, 37k on the clock! I have some good connections for getting parts, and have a good collection of NOS parts Ive collected over the years. If you need parts, don’t hesitate to reach out, I might be able to help! This thing is in great shape, glad to see more survivors in such good condition!!! 😍

My neighbor used to let me wash his on the weekends when I was teenager, it felt amazing. His was PGMFI and red.

My wife and I had matching red manual transmission Preludes, a 85 and a 83, up at college. Great cars. The 83 didn't have power steering. Wonderful trip cars for two.