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A wolf in sheep’s clothing?
Many people are divided on the Honda Prelude. Most call it an ideal sports car, while others praise it as an excellent grand tourer. Some people seem to be trying to find limits.
Despite its obvious sporty leanings, the Prelude does tend to be more of a cruiser than a canyon carver. The proof seems to be there, as the auction world has just released two nearly new Preludes for sale. Unfortunately, both were severely damaged.
IAA Corporation.
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Low mileage but damaged
Two damaged Preludes were posted on the Insurance Auto Auctions Inc. (IAAI) website. Interestingly, both cars had less than 600 miles on their odometers and were in poor condition. It is understood that these two cars are the first cars to crash since Preludes was relaunched.
The first car listing (lot #44919713) generally looks good from most angles; based on the photos, there is no damage to the front or sides. When you look behind you, you see something is wrong. A look at the right rear revealed that the fender had been bent, the tires were misaligned, indicating possible damage to the rear chassis, and there was a huge black crack in the rear bumper. Unfortunately, the car only had 264 miles on it.
Next up is lot #44534805. Amazingly, this car is still up for auction despite being much more severely damaged than the first Prelude to hit the market. From the front, it appears to be repairable, with the only visible damage being to the left front side mirror.
However, if you look at the back, you’ll see that the damage is quite extensive. Unlike the first car, much of the rear is still discernible, but here the entire trunk area has collapsed, suggesting some degree of rear-end collision. The car only has 575 miles on the odometer.
IAA Corporation.
View 2 images from this gallery in the original article
Unlucky?
The exact cause of these incidents, whether self-inflicted or simply an accident, has not yet been announced. One thing is for sure, though: There’s clearly a group of people who are buying Prelude, despite their differences of opinion.
An indicative bid price has not yet been determined. However, considering the damage done, it’s surprising to see them fetching decent coins. Hopefully these are isolated cases, because it would be a shame if this was a showcase of things to come.
IAA Corporation. (IAA Corporation.)
This article was originally published by Autoblog on March 12, 2026 and first appeared in the News section. Click here to add Autoblog as your preferred source.
