HONDA'S last Prelude coupe is still stylish and sleek and packs a great punch for the enthusiastic driver.

Owners love them, and have often had more than one down the years. This means they still fetch high prices considering that they went out of production in 2001.

The Prelude was originally designed for the Japanese and American markets with soft suspension, but Honda learns quickly, and it soon changed things to suit us and delighted thousands of drivers.

It was one of the first cars to offer standard anti-lock brakes and at one stage the top model also had four wheel steering.

But the model made until 2001 is a svelte 2+2 with either a smooth 2 litre with 132bhp, or a 2.2 VTi with no less than 197.

They are smooth, refined and high revving, yet will also happily pull the car through town at walking pace.

All have sharp handling and roadholding, point and shoot power steering and excellent brakes, but unlike some coupes, they also have a comfortable ride.

Rear legroom and space is pretty small for what is quite a big car, but that's only to be expected, and if you don't have to carry more than two.

The seats are excellent, so is the driving position and equipment leaves nothing wanting including air con and airbags, ABS and alloys.

Pay about £2,100 for an '01 Y-reg 2000 Sport, or £6200 for an '00 V-reg SeqShift auto

132 bhp, 1,998cc, 4 cylinder petrol driving the front wheels via a 5 speed manual gearbox

125mph

9.5 secs

30

15

220g/km

BMW 3-Series Coupe