hi guys,
i was just bored at work and thinking about my prelude, how everything started, how i got to love it so much, so i thought i'd share it with you.

HONDA PRELUDE! the name says it all. one of honda's first and best sports coupes.
every time i hear that name i think of all the happy moments i spent behind it's wheels, all happy revs, turn hugging, adrenaline...
the Prelude set standards for other cars to come. it was always one of the best in it's class. always so refined and elegant, yet agressive.
just like any other ordinary car-nut that falls in love with a car, i fell in love with the Prelude. i can even say "extra-ordinary" love.when i first got my license and bought an 85 Prelude, i was the happiest teenager alive. i went driving for hours. i enjoyed every minute of it. but my happiness lasted for only a year. a mustang crashed into my my prelude after running a red light, ending it's life.
although my Prelude died, the love for it was still very much alive and i already knew what my next car was gonna be. another Prelude, duh.
this time, an 89 Si. the love grew even bigger. i spent countless hours pampering it and washing it. polishing it to a beautiful shine that always made my day.
when my Lude shined, i shined with it. i couldn't imagine anyone else loving a car as much as i loved my Prelude. it just gave me such a satisfaction, joy, and a healthy dose of adrenaline every now and then. then came modifying. you name it, i had it. this was one hell of a 3rd gen.
then in 96 i drove a 94 Prelude VTEC. i was blown away by it's performance, sexy styling, the interior, this car screamed "BUY ME!"
when i first turned that ignition on and the dash came to life, i just sat there staring at it like a kid that just saw a tite new toy that he dreamed of. i dreamt of Prelude, just like that. that same day i thought "this is my next car".
so i sold my 3rd gen about a year later and finally got my hands on a 95 milano red Prelude VTEC. that's when it happened! the bug bit me, and it bit hard...
soon came my engine mods, suspension, JDM stuff, c/f hood, wheels, WW RS kit, new even better milano red paintjob, and so on. i was happy with the way it looked and performed. i really enjoyed this car to the fullest. until one night! until some idiot(s) decided to vandalize my baby. it was bashed almost beyond recognition. all that joy, all the time and money, all the effort suddenly shattered like a broken glass. my baby was pronounced dead. (RIP)
then i started thinking how it wasn't meant to be. maybe the Prelude wasn't for for me. so i tried a different route. a CR-X was my next project. with a B18C1 and a turbo it turned into a beast. 11 second car was a totally new experience. and i liked it. i loved it. but i still missed my Prelude greatly.
after the rex, i bought a 95 civic hatchback. a full JDM conversion followed. i liked the EG. it was a fun car, but it didn't have that something my Prelude had... that feeling...
i started missing my Lude more and more each day. whenever i saw a nice one on the street i'd take a deep breath and try not to scream. i was missing it bad.
then one night i had a dream...yes, a real dream. in this dream i was opening my garage door and inside i found a black 4th gen Prelude. i got in and started it. it was like an old flame that finally came alive again. i was driving a Prelude!
then i woke up... the dream was so real that i was almost sure i had bought another Prelude. but then i saw the EG issue of the "hyper-rev" next to my bed and remembered that i drive a civic now. but i pinched myself anyway, just to make sure i was awake.
that whole morning i kept thinking about the black Prelude from my dream.i couldn't get it out of my mind. and just for the heck of it, i logged on to auto-trader.com to see how much they go for. i had no intention of buying it however.
there i saw this black 94 Prelude VTEC that reminded of the Lude from my dream. the picture was taken from the exact same angle i saw it in my dream when i opened the garage door. i thought "what the hell... but it can't be"...
anyway, i left my house to go see a friend of mine in Santa Monica. on my way overthere i saw the exact same Prelude from the auto-trader.com!!! i rolled by in my EG, stopping to see it. then i snapped out of it when someone behind me honked really loud. i felt like i was still dreaming. it almost gave me chills...
all the way to my friend's house i had an urge to go back and see that Prelude again. and i did. i drove back overthere, and i saw this woman taking something out of it. i talked to her, and i test drove the car, eventhough i had no intention of buying it. i gave her my number and told her i'd think about it. but i had no money to buy it anyway, and i already had a nice car. so i went home.
then that same afternoon, my credit union calls me about a loan i had applied for some time earlier. i was planning on financing an EG with it, but i found one for cheap so i bought it in cash. when the lady said "good news, you've been approved for a $10000 loan for a used car, blah blah..." i just zoned out. i saw myself buying that black Prelude right that moment.
to make things even more interesting, i get another call on the other line. guess who? the owner of the black Prelude i test drove earlier, the owner of the car i dream about and want to own so bad! she was asking how much i would offer because someone else looked at the car after me and he made her an offer.
i didn't know what to say. i wasn't really planning on buying it... but something, something stronger than me, some strange force, made me offer her a hundred more than what that other person did. i just said it. i didn't even realize i was making a deal with this woman! am i dreaming again?!?!?! i told her i was on the phone with my credit union and that i will ask them to send the check right away. to this day, i have no idea why i did it or how i did it. i just did...
and so i bought another Prelude! a black 94 VTEC. my dream car. no really, my DREAM car. i sold the EG, and to be honest i didn't miss it that much.
about 6 months has passed since then. now i'm on another modifying spree and i'm loving it. now i really think this was meant to be.
therefore, i want to thank HONDA for building this car and giving me (us) a chance to own it, drive it, enjoy it, and be proud of it.
so, thank you HONDA for 5 beautifull Prelude generations.
and thank you HONDA for putting so much beauty and style in the Prelude.
thank you for every little detail you built with perfection, the way only you know how to do.
now that there is no 6th gen Prelude in your line-up, i'm somewhat angry. but i have a feeling the good ol' Lude will be back one day.
until that day, i will stay a proud owner of a 4th gen, and maybe one night i'll have another Prelude dream.
until that dream HONDA, until that dream...

now i want to thank all you guys for reading this long thread and i hope some of you can relate. and don't think i'm some kind of a psycho or something, i'm not drunk or stoned, i'm just another ordinary luder with an extraordinary love for his car.
so thank you and keep on ludin'. the lude may be gone, but the love for it among us enthusiasts remains stronger than ever.

later,
Sonnie - a proud luder.



[Modified by BB1, 11:25 AM 8/27/2002]

 

now i wonder if anyone actually read this.... well, i don't blame ya, it is kinda long...

 

Nice "article" on the Prelude! It sounds as if we had similar pasts with Preludes. My first was a red '85 lude, next was a black '90 Si, then a few other Hondas(2 accords, 2 integras between my wife and I), and now my beautiful EBP '01 Type SH. The Prelude will always be my favorite car to drive. Long live the 'Ludes!!!!

 

BB1 (Sonnie), you stole the words right out of my mouth.

I my Prelude too.

 

I my prelude too
It's tearing my guts out not being able to drive it.....it's been 3 weeks and it'll probably be another 3 before it's all done......but then it'll rock! I've already got my first kill all picked out, a red G5 corvette with the license plate "Tony T", then it'll be the supercharged mustangs
Brian

 

http://www.tonymodel.com hahahahhahaha.....get it on tape, that's some funny sheit.....so when you beat him, does that make you the fastest street car in town....hahahaha....inside joke no one will get it

 

I can relate to you BB1. My love affair with the lude started when I was a senior in highschool. At that point I was driving a 92 Nissan Stanza. It got me here and there but it was a slouch. Two months after I started driving, a tree ran into me...go figure. Anyway you live you learn. Now that I couldn't drive my own car, I started to look at other people's cars and thinking what else could I get. Since I was living with my parents, I thought it would be easy to save up cash to buy a nice car. So as my dad and uncle banged my POS back into shape using junk yard parts, I kept my eyes open. One day at tennis practice, I was walking through the lot with my coach and saw a 96 gold SE prelude and said to him "thats a pretty nice car". We walked over and stared, and he started talking to me how his 1st car was a 86 prelude si. He told me about the great handling, the road feel, the fun factor, meanwhile I just could not get over the prelude's clean lines and sleek design. Thats when it bit me. My next car shall be a prelude. From that moment on, every paycheck for 2 1/2 years at Starbucks went into the bank. My taste in preludes evolved. At first I settled for wanting a cheap 92 S for $4000. When I saved up $4000, I thought "my Nissan still runs, why not save up for a nicer one" Then I wanted the one with 4ws, and eventually I discovered the magic of VTEC. As time went on, I grew to appreciate the look of the 5th gen, and that became the object of my affection.

Then all of a sudden, my destiny changed. My friend's father who works at a honda dealership said he had a 2001 yellow type r sitting in the lot in Jersey. He said he could sell it to me for a huge discount. Having heard so many great things about the type r I agreed, never thinking I could own one. However, a week before I was supposed to pick up the car, some ******* stole it. They drove the damn thing through the fence and out of the lot. When it was found, it had $35,000 worth of damage. Seeing as the prelude was already discontinued, my only option was an RSX-S. Then one day my friend's dad called me up and told me that there is a 2001 type SH in the lot in electron blue. It was actually the exact one I sat in 6 months earlier at the NYC auto show. I could not believe it. To make a long story short, I was eventually able to buy it for $16,000 with 25000miles. So in my case it was destiny as well


[Modified by piotrush, 9:21 PM 9/6/2002]

 

I kinda skimmed through it since it was damn long

But yeah I felt the SAME way when I first turned on the ignition to my 95 VTEC. I was in awe of the dash electronic gauges. I fell in the love with the car and had to have it. Now I just need to find another one


[Modified by Mike95lude, 10:38 AM 9/5/2002]

 

That totally sucks your car got totalled......how'd it happen?
Brian

 

I got rearended at full speed by a stupid bitch who wasn't looking at the road.

 

Soccer Mom?

 

that's long. i didn't read it but i love my prelude. hehehe

 

BB1, thats an awesome story man. to that

My story is kinda long, and my love for the prelude is just as strong as yours man, even though for the price we pay for alude in australia, we can get cars like the supra, silvia s15, and some other high powered turbo cars.

Mine started when i was 15, i had seen the 3rd generation preludes driving around and i loved the shape of it. the looks alone was enough to get me hooked! However at that age, my parents had made me a responsible kid, so all i knew was automatic . After some time of saving for a car, i finally got to the 13,000 mark saved (hard work getting there but well worth it). I looked at a few 3rd gens, but by that time i had seen some very nice 4th gens, the black and burgundy ones were awesome! so i decided i would save antoher 2,000 and get a 4th gen 92 s/si as it was cheapest (i didnt know about VTEC).

After saving that money, drovea couple of cars around but the s and si's were not pwerful machines. by this time i had been biten by the manual (stick) driving aspect and was learning with a friend. After much lengthy deliberation i decided a sports car should be manuel (even though i was going to probably regret buying a manuel).

So i drove a few manuel ones, and ran into this imported one from japan that had VTEC, and when i test drove it (PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR) is all i could hear and feel! damn im in love. goping for 20,000 i got a loan and bought that beatiful beast! that was the first of my preludes!

i loved that car alot and still miss it, some kid has it now who goes to my university . I sold that car as i got an ITR fully imported from japan, it was awesome but like u bb1, it missed the feel and soul of a prelude. so after 3 quick months, i sold it and bought another 4th gen lude, but in auto. having realised my mistake about 5 hours after i picked this car up, i decided to sell it.

found a GSR that i liked, and made another mistake finally sold that and in my current 4th gen. itsa 94 VTEC and its now running boost. I love this beast and i dont think i will ever sell another prelude again!

for those who bothered to read

 

DAMN!! thats a epic tale of prelude love