Honda has sold 2,077 examples of its new Preludes coupe so far this year in the US. Subaru only shifted 1,785 BRZs, despite its RWD chassis and manual-shift option. Mazda’s MX-5 Miata easily beat both, scoring 5,984 sales from January to July ’26. The internet didn’t exactly roll out the red carpet for the new Honda Prelude. Enthusiasts complained it wasn’t powered by the Civic Type-R’s turbocharged engine, dismissed its hybrid drivetrain, and questioned whether it deserved the famous badge. Buyers, however, seem to have had other ideas. Through the first seven months of the year, Honda has delivered 2,077 Preludes in America. That gives the newcomer another comfortable lead over Subaru’s BRZ, which has managed 1,785 sales over the same period. That’s a gap of 292 cars for a coupe many enthusiasts claimed nobody wanted. Related: This Prelude Convertible Render Answers A Question Honda Never Asked The BRZ (and its Toyota GR86 twin) ought to be the affordable enthusiast coupe benchmark. It offers rear-wheel drive, a naturally aspirated boxer engine, a low center of gravity, and perhaps most importantly for purists, a manual transmission option. It also starts at just $37,055 including destination, making it genuinely affordable. On paper, it’s almost everything internet commenters say they want. The Prelude takes a very different approach. Instead of chasing lap times, Honda built a stylish front-wheel drive coupe with hybrid power and a focus on everyday usability. And it slapped a $43,195 (inc dest) sticker on the result. That’s exactly why many enthusiasts declared it a missed opportunity. So far, the sales figures suggest plenty of shoppers either disagree or simply weren’t reading the comments section. Mazda’s evergreen MX-5 Miata, though, continues to crush both of them. Mazda sold 5,984 Miatas during the same year-to-date period, almost three times the Prelude’s total, although July itself was softer with sales slipping 16.3 percent. Even so, America’s favorite affordable sports car clearly isn’t going anywhere. Prelude Beats BRZ, But Not GR86 Toyota’s GR86 tells another story. We know Subaru’s coupe twin recorded 4,007 sales through the end of June, down more than 26 percent compared with the same point last year, but still easily trouncing the BRZ. Last month’s numbers aren’t available yet, but the GR is still going to be closer to the Miata than the Prelude when it comes to Jan-July sales. None of this proves the Prelude is the better sports car than the BRZ. But it does remind us of a couple of things. First, the gap between what enthusiasts say they want and what buyers actually drive home can sometimes be surprisingly wide, and second, not everyone buying a “sporty” car spends their free time at trackdays or carving canyons. The core Prelude audience in the 1980s and 1990s wasn’t 25-year-olds fresh out of college but mature professionals, many of them women, who wanted a cool-looking commuter car. And Honda’s own intel shows the new hybrid Prelude appeals to those same kind of people in the way a BRZ never will. US Sales 2026 ModelJul 2026Jul 2025% Diff.YTD 2026YTD 2025% Diff.Honda Prelude354–New2,077–NewSubaru BRZ2332224.9%1,7851,887-5.4%Mazda MX-5 Miata9741,163-16.3%5,9845,9350.8% SWIPE