The Honda Prelude was launched in Japan in 1978 and was a completely new car, although it borrowed some mechanicals from the Accord saloon. The little coupé was very well appointed; power steering, intermittent windscreen wipers, remote boot release, tinted glass, electrical sunroof and Connolly leather.

In 1979, when BL's chief Sir Michael Edwardes signed a deal with Mr Kawashima to start a partnership with Honda, he was given a gift of the Japanese firm's latest model: this Prelude. Sadly, after some time the symbolic nature of the car was lost and it was used as an engineering hack around Longbridge for many years. Although in a poor state, subsequently and fortunately it was saved for the collection.