[ THE INSIDERS ]
The well-received arrival of the new Honda Prelude made me yearn for those splendid days when most manufacturers offered at least one affordable coupé
Alex landed his first television job in 1998, working behind the scenes on Top Gear. He’s made several classic car TV series since, and currently writes and presents The Car Years on ITV4. PHOTO: JOHN LAKEY
Honda has launched a new Prelude, and no, it’s not a fivedoor crossover – I’m looking at you Ford – it’s a coupé, just like every previous Prelude. Like most relatively affordable coupés, it uses bits from a family car, which in this case means the Civic Type-R, and in classic coupé fashion wraps the TypeR’s fancy chassis hardware in a more stylish body with a shorter wheelbase. This is 2026, so it’s a hybrid and all that extra motor and battery gubbins means it’s actually 60kg heavier than a Type-R and not as fast, but the handling is apparently excellent, and it’ll do nearly 50 to the gallon even when pressing on.
The fact that a new Prelude is such exciting news reflects the fact that the affordable coupé has become a rare beast these days, whereas coupé buyers have been spoilt for choice at various times over the last 60 years.
The Italians have produced lots of really desirable coupés, partly because both Pininfarina and Bertone needed to design and build them to stay in business. A look at the Fiat range in 1968 shows them listing no fewer than four different coupés at different price points – the 850 Coupé, 124 Sport Coupé, 2300S and Fiat Dino. All now highly desirable classics. Lancia would sell you four different variations on its Fulvia Coupé as well as a coupé based on the Flavia and no fewer than three different coupés based on the Flaminia saloon. Maybe that’s why they were always losing money.
‘Not all coupés are as desirable as the Giulia GT. The 1998 Ford Cougar was a huge letdown’
And Alfa Romeo offered the Giulia GT; not just the perfect expression of the relatively affordable coupé but truly one of the best cars I’ve ever driven. It was nimble, responsive, with a lovely engine, a great driving position and wonderful visibility. It felt so utterly right that within a few short minutes of getting in, I was piling on the revs and throwing it into bends as if we’d known each other for years. And every time I got out, people would come over to tell me just how gorgeous it was. Add in a decent boot and space in the back for one – very understanding and quite small – adult, and it’s a package that makes total sense even today.
But not all coupés are as desirable as the Giulia GT. The 1998 Ford Cougar was a huge letdown, given that it was based on the rather good Ford Mondeo. It somehow managed to be longer than the Mondeo with featureless sides, cartoonish rear lights and wheels that looked tiny. The interior was swathed in acres of grey plastic offering all the tactile pleasure of a washing-up bowl, and the driving experience was just as disappointing. At the same time, you could buy the Ford Puma, a coupé that took everything that was great about the Fiesta and added a sort of fizz and on-its-toes liveliness that made every journey a joy. It looked great, too, even if it sat a little too high.
Zagato made lighter, stiffer and more aerodynamic coupé bodies for racing in the Fifties and Sixties and in the early Nineties applied the formula to a Delta Integrale, creating the Lancia Hyena. It should have been a runaway success, but Lancia couldn’t deliver floorpans to Zagato, so it had to chop up complete cars, sending the price through the roof. Then Lancia stopped building Integrales and only 24 were ever made.
The Toyota GR Yaris is today’s Integrale, so how about a lighter GR coupé with a Zagato body? It would be an all-time great. If not, I’ll just have to keep saving up for a Giulia GT.
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