The Strange but True Story of Why the Prelude Flopped in Japan

Despite strong sales across the globe, the Prelude had a very specific and risqué design flaw: the ‘Pervert Lever.’

Automakers often face a roll of the dice when determining what drivers will respond to. Usually, the reasons why a vehicle fails to catch on can be traced to fairly obvious reasons: poor performance, unappealing design, bad timing. However, when it comes to why the Honda Prelude was a dud in the Japan domestic markets, it can be traced to one very unusual (and pretty hilarious) reason.

Recently, a woman named ChiBitech shared the crazy story on Twitter. Fasten your seat belts, this is one crazy and fascinating ride.

Preludes came on the market in 1978, and subsequently garnered excellent reviews and sales. They are awesome cars from Honda’s golden eras–sporty 2-two door coupes with great powertrains. ChiBitech is a huge Honda Prelude fan, and drove a fourth-generation for years. As she says, the Honda Prelude was once named the #1 Best Handling Car Under $30k. It was also her first and favorite car.

“For me, I was fortunate to have a ‘Lude as my first car IN REAL LIFE,” she says. “Getting the car made sense to me at the time: import tuner culture was just ramping up, and used fourth-gen Preludes were, although pricey, sporty from the start. And compared to other brands, Honda had a reputation as a reliable and fun car brand.”

I took it everywhere, from carving bay area mountains while bumping latin freestyle & ska-punk & chiptunes along the way, to going straight to LA & back THEN driving to Oregon & back… just ’cause I wanted to. That ‘Lude made me LOVE driving. Plus it had a FUTURE Star Trek dash! pic.twitter.com/iTh5wWea09 — ちびてく 🎚🆙👇🎹🔊🏚💨 (@chibitech) November 6, 2019

She had to give up her Prelude when she later moved to Japan. And this is where her story takes an interesting turn. She writes:

“But here’s the thing: market conditions and people’s tastes are different from one another. I found out Honda Preludes, specifically the fourth-gen, sold TERRIBLY in the Japanese market. More so, the Prelude name itself inherited a weirdly shady reputation it could never shake off.”

Shady? What could be shady about this?

I first thought ‘Why did Japanese people avoid Preludes? I mean, it wasn’t a best seller in US compared to the Accord or Civic, and people did wish for RWD…but they were respectably fast and fun, right?’ Then, I learned of the dreaded word ‘「デートカー」’, aka ‘Date Car’. But what exactly is a ‘Date Car?’ For that, we’d have to go back to the 1980s during Japan’s ‘Bubble Economy.’ Japanese companies were flush with capital, and car companies in Japan were especially riding high as they danced all over America’s own godawful ‘Malaise Era’ cars.

Cars from the Malaise Era include some 1970s-mid 80s American, um, classics like the Cadillac Cimarron, Chevy Nova, Chrysler Cordoba, and of course, the Ford Pinto. Japanese automakers made the astute move to take their decidedly sexier, sportier car and tap into an under-served market.

“Japanese car companies were finally wanting to go upmarket and take on more niche demographics—with Honda in particular on the second-gen Prelude. They wanted to corner the single young male demographic with a sleek coupe filled with novelties meant to make men attractive to women.”

It had high-end details such as pop-up headlights, curvy and aerodynamic lines, a moonroof, and offered a variety of powertrain options. As ChiBitech says, it was “still sleek-looking and filled with impressive-looking tech…and yet cheap enough for young single guys to afford. And thus, the Date Car was born.”

Oh, the irony….

Okay, where’s the controversy? Inside, of all places.

“So what made the 2nd generation Prelude the #1 notorious ‘Date Car’ in Japan of all shady reasons? THIS feature.”

So, looking at this you might think, “Huh?” This is the seat lever, as viewed from a right-hand-drive ‘Lude. You can see that the lever for reclining the seat is located on the opposite side, not on the side by the door.

Normally in 2-door sports coupe with rear seats, the side seat levers are pointed outwards towards the incoming passenger for THEM to pull the seat forward & access the rear. But in a 2nd gen Prelude?

NO! Let’s instead give the driver full access to the passenger’s recliner!😏😱 pic.twitter.com/bKF8mhYefx — ちびてく 🎚🆙👇🎹🔊🏚💨 (@chibitech) November 6, 2019

And as a result, the Prelude received the unfortunate nickname in Japan:「スケべレバー」, the “Pervert Lever.”

Well, that’s a little harsh. But, Japan in the 1980s was far more conservative, making the Prelude synonymous with steamy backseat action of the “if the Honda’s a rockin’…” variety. Unsurprisingly, many consumers just weren’t responsive to projecting that image. It didn’t help that the Pervert Lever also picked up the unfortunate nickname “Horny Knob.”

Yeah, we’re not even touching that one.

As ChiBitech points out, all of this didn’t kill the Prelude’s chances in Japan. Initially.

“That didn’t mean the second-gen Prelude sold poorly. In fact, it was one of the best-selling 2-door coupes! An innovative, cheap-to-own, yet high-quality product will still sell. Regardless, shady reputations will eventually mar an image, as third-gen sales wouldn’t be as great. But how about those young single men entranced by the seconnd-gen Prelude’s lore in the first place? Well, the ‘pervert lever’ reputation started shying even those guys away from it. So instead, Japanese guys bought [Nissan] S13 Silvias as their more subtle attractions for impressing ladies.”

Honda did keep the “pervert lever” in the third and fourth-generations, despite its reputation as a parking lot pimp. The company was now focused on making the Prelude a noted sports coupe, no more “date car.” To that end, the fourth-generation Prelude got wider and now had a big VTEC. How was the revamped Prelude’s sales in Japan?

“Disastrous!” says ChiBitech. “The thing was that pushing it wider AND bumping its engine size up to 2.2L ended up shoving the JDM Prelude into ‘luxury car tax’ territory…which is bad place to be in if your mid-tier FWD sports coupe meant to duel with Silvias is now sharing the ring with SKYLINES and SUPRAS.”

Hefty taxes aside, the Prelude was now competing with the likes of the Integra, and the supercar-slaying NSX. Still marred with the paradise by the dashboard light “date car” label, it was facing an uphill battle. Then, adding insult to injury, the Prelude’s performance came into question when some cars failed vehicle inspections. Nothing worse than problems performing.

Today, the import and JDM enthusiast community are (justifiably) weak-kneed at the prospect of a golden era Prelude. Whereas in Japan, they are a rarity–if not a novelty.

“Seeing a used 4th gen Prelude in Japan is like seeing a unicorn. In fact you’re equally likely to see a Mitsubishi Eclipse in Japan…A LEFT-HAND-ONLY CAR!” ChiBitech writes. In the end, it was Honda’s mismanagement and fluctuating industry trends that failed the ‘Lude, not just the lecherous lever. Although, it didn’t help.

ChiBitech writes:

Remember: the Prelude was also meant to be a ‘world car’. Competition between sport coupes in the U.S. were starting to heat up. And [US Domestic Market] USDM Preludes often had a more favorable position in U.S. car insurance premiums. I mean granted–Honda still tried to push the ‘Date Car’ ideal for their international ads by featuring couples and girls sliding on sexy lingerie for Mr. Driver to stare at. But at least the rest of the world accepted that imagery (as opposed to backfiring on Honda Japan’s face).”

As for ChiBitech, the Honda Prelude remains her favorite car. “Here’s food for thought BTW: Before I sold it, I had one of my first kisses with my boyfriend inside my Prelude. With ME in the driver’s seat.” she adds. “So I guess it really did succeed as a Date Car!”

But as to why the sports car met such an untimely demise, she concludes, “The last Prelude models in Japan seemed like a victim of trying to accommodate all markets with the same model AND being heckled from a soiled reputation.”

To be fair, once you hear about something like this, it is pretty hard not to giggle, or make a lame joke like calling it the “Honda Prelewd.” See?

With or without the lever of love and its park and play rep, it will always be a kickass ride to us. And we thank ChiBitech for reminding us of this fascinating footnote to the Prelude’s history.

Check the thread in its entirety on Twitter, and give her a follow while you’re there.

Photos: Honda; ChiBitech; Honda-Tech Forums

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