“How many car companies promise you the sun, the moon, and the stars?” said a newspaper advertisement dated May 1979. The Honda Prelude sport coupe, new that year, came with a power-operated moonroof as standard equipment. In fact, every Prelude from 1979 through the end of its fifth generation in 2001 came with a moonroof or sunroof.

As a multi-time Prelude owner, I started thinking about some of the ways in which the new Prelude (model year 2025+) differs from its predecessors. And that’s not to say the latest Prelude is better or worse. This is just a series of observations on how the car is packaged.

Here are five ways the sixth-generation Prelude is different from those that came before it.

Automatic transmission only. From 1979-2001, all Preludes could be optioned with a traditional three-pedal manual transmission. The latest Prelude is automatic-only, and its S+, or Sport Plus, mode offers eight “virtual” gear ratios via paddle shifters.

Hatchback body style. The new Prelude has a hatchback design, which gives it added versatility when it comes to cargo-carrying. Previous versions were all notchbacks with traditional trunks.

Hybrid powertrain. The new Prelude replaces a high-revving internal combustion engine with a 200-horsepower hybrid powertrain that uses a 2.0-liter inline-four paired with dual electric motors. Did you know that you cannot “rev” the new Prelude while it’s parked or in neutral? Honda intentionally designed the car (and its other hybrid models) to restrict revving due to fuel efficiency and emissions considerations.

Modernized controls and gauges. One of my favorite things about the first-year Prelude is its “concentric” speedometer/tachometer combination. While fun to look at, Honda learned that it was a little confusing for people to interpret, so the speedometer and tachometer were later split into two gauges. Technology has come a long way in the last few decades, and the latest Prelude has advanced accordingly. The infotainment is now controlled by a nine-inch touchscreen, and the gauges are set in a 10.25-inch all-digital cluster.

Moonroof delete. As discussed earlier, each of the Prelude’s first five generations came with a standard moonroof, and in the case of the fourth-generation (1992-96) model, it was a metal sunroof that opened over the roof of the car rather than retracting inside it. The latest Prelude omits a moonroof primarily as a weight-saving measure but also to improve structural integrity.

2026 Prelude shown with optional black roof:

Ever since the latest Prelude was first announced, it’s been a polarizing vehicle. I’ve yet to take the wheel of one, but Motor Trend summed it up by saying that the car was “Not exactly the back-to-basics sport coupe some enthusiasts may have imagined. It looks the part, feels buttoned-down on a good road, and brings genuine Honda polish to a segment with few direct rivals. The catch is that its hybrid powertrain gives the Prelude more of a sporty grand-touring personality than a raw, high-revving coupe identity.”

I still think Honda should have given the car a moonroof, at least so the company could re-use that “sun, moon, and stars” advertising angle.