A nameplate Honda shelved 24 years ago is coming back to production next year.

PRELUDE is being reintroduced internationally by Honda next year, continuing as a sporty two-door coupe but reinvigorating as a hybrid car with an intriguing transmission.

Patently there will be interest in whether it will come here and when. Japan, the United States and some countries in Europe are said to be seeing it from late next year.

So for Kiwis? Honda New Zealand’s sadly tight-lipped on that and, indeed, the car in general, deputy general manager of sales Matthew Fong today saying: “Honda NZ does not have any comment to share regarding new Prelude sports coupe.”

No detail has been shared about the likely performance or power and torque potentials from what will be the sixth generation of this model, which in production form - seen in white - is very close to the concept car, in orange, Honda showed off last year.

Honda's e:HEV hybrid models don't have a traditional gearbox, instead powering the wheels via a direct-drive system that has CVT-like gearing.

It’s only known Prelude will use a variation pairing a 2.0-litre petrol engine with two electric motors, one to act as a generator, and one which helps to power the front axle.

That powertrain could well be a development of the powertrain that goes into the $67,000 e:HEV CR-V here. The crossover has a 2.0-litre non-turbo four-cylinder petrol engine, two electric motors fed by a 1.06kWh battery pack, transferring through a simulated CVT. Maximum power and torque are respectively 135kW and 335Nm.

Honda has also said the Prelude’s transmission is designed to create quicker simulated gearchanges.

Honda S Plus Shift has new software which is meant to mimic the sound and feel of a responsive multi-ratio automatic transmission. A bit like what Hyundai achieves with simulated gearshifts in the electric Ioniq 5 N?

Honda promises S Plus Shift will “enhance the driving experience”, “deliver maximum levels of driver engagement” and also says the shifts are “coordinated with active sound control.” 

Prelude originally launched in its first generation some 46 years, ago, but the last one went out of production at the end of 2001. So it will be a full 24 years later that the new one finally goes on sale.

The announcement overnight times neatly with Honda’s current celebration of 25 years of hybrid innovation, with its first mass-produced hybrid, the Insight, coming out in December of 1999.