- Honda Prelude coupe reimagined as a compact pickup truck.
- Mixes coupe styling with a four-door cab and open truck bed.
- The Prelute is one of many redesigns by independent creators.
The Honda Prelude has returned to the US, stirring debate over its pricing and what it does (or doesn’t) deliver in performance. As one of the few remaining low-slung coupes, its silhouette is a rare sight on today’s roads. But independent digital artist Theophilus Chin wasn’t interested in celebrating its return with a standard tribute.
Instead, he asked a different question entirely: what if the Prelude morphed into something unexpected, like a compact unibody pickup?
More: Honda’s Too-Slow 2026 Prelude Could Be Much Faster Than You Think
According to Theottle, the idea started off as a joke. Someone misspelled the name of the new hybrid coupe as “Prelute,” which somehow led to a mental image of a Honda ute. That turned into a full-on rendering project.
A Gym-Trained Prelude
The imagined vehicle sits taller than the coupe, wears four full doors, and includes a short rear bed, sort of like a Prelude that’s swapped cardio for weight training. It keeps the production model’s front and rear lighting, including the glider-like grille and angular bumper intakes.
Illustrations Theottle
If the silhouette of the custom creation looks familiar, it is because the digital artist used the Hyundai Santa Cruz as a base for the renderings, with the Korean truck’s sporty proportions deemed a better fit for the curved lines of the Honda compared to boxier rivals.
The rendering keeps quite a few elements from its Korean donor. The plastic cladding around the wheel arches, the greenhouse and roofline, and even the bed rails carry over, anchoring the fantasy build in a semi-plausible visual framework.
More: New Prelude Inspires A Modern Take On Honda’s S2000 Roadster
There’s no mention of performance figures or dimensions in the video, but if it were somehow real, this “Prelute” could ride on the same unibody platform as the Honda CR-V. That would allow it to use the hybrid coupe’s self-charging 2.0-liter setup, paired with a CVT featuring simulated gear shifts and optional all-wheel drive.
That combination might land it in the same conversation as the Ford Maverick, Hyundai Santa Cruz, and whatever compact truck Toyota is brewing under its Land Cruiser umbrella.
In reality, though, it has almost no chance of leaving the digital realm. Honda doesn’t appear interested in the segment and would likely shy away from adapting the design language of its halo coupe to a completely different bodystyle.
Still, for buyers looking for a Honda truck with a bed, there’s always the Ridgeline. The current version has been around since 2017, and while it’s received minor facelifts and steady model-year updates, age is catching up with it.
A new generation could land after 2027, potentially carrying a hybrid V6 that Honda is said to be developing for its larger North American models.
