Back in the day, some called the Honda Prelude the “Quaalude,” but it was a misnomer because there was nothing sedative about this exciting-to-drive coupe, and especially not in its Si guise.
One of those cars, a 1988 Honda Prelude Si with 4-wheel steering is the Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com, where it is being advertised by its private seller.
“Yes, it’s the first year of the all-wheel steer and this car has that feature,” the seller notes, also pointing out that the car is a rare “black on black” example.
Honda expanded its vehicle lineup for the US market in 1979, adding the sporty Prelude coupe to the Accord sedan and Civic already offered. A second-generation Prelude followed in 1983 and the coupe got its fuel-injected Si version in 1986.
The third-gen model arrived for 1988 with a new 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine and the availability of 4-wheel steering to enhance its already nimble dynamics. The new engine was offered in single- or dual-overhead cam architectures; the car on offer has the fuel-injected 135-horsepower DOHC powerplant, linked to a 4-speed automatic transmission.
The seller says that because of sun fading in the hot and dry climate of eastern Washington, the car has been repainted in black single-stage acrylic paint which remains “not perfect but quite presentable. Someone may want to color sand it.”
The interior “looks almost new,” the seller assures.
“It drives like a new car and you could drive it anywhere.”
The car has a sunroof and air conditioning. The car also has a trunk-mounted Sony Xplod 10 CD changer and shows nearly 90,000 miles on its odometer.
The seller adds that the original owner had hoses and seals changed at 72,000 miles in 2010, along with the head gasket, cam seals and brake lines.
The car is in College Place, Washington, and is being offered for $16,974. To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
I purchased a brand new, red ’88 Prelude and drove it for 250,000 miles. Fabulous handling and was stable and secure in any weather. Mine had the 5 speed and the sunroof and sharp looking alloys. The 4 wheel steering combined with Michelin radials enabled it to outhandle almost anything on the road at the time.
It is critical to be vigilant in changing the timing belt!!
This is a nice car but the automatic makes is a non-starter for me.
My buddy and I had a silver 88 5spd.
We used it while we worked on our race cars
We drove the tires off that thing.
I currently have a 2000 Honda Civic 4door as my winter beater it has 250k miles on it and still runs fantastic. Wish I could find an 88 Qualude there hard to find thanks for sharing
Just a recommend to change the timing belt every 60k miles. I loved my 89 prelude for several years great car. Until it broke its timing belt and severely damaged the engine.
And all this time I thought I was the only one who ever called it the Qualude. LOL
A repaint at THIS price ? Not in my world .