I was slammin’ down a few brews and indulging myself in a few hot slices of Domino’s Pizza, while having an intense conversation with a good friend of mine on just what makes an excellent custom ride. We were thumbing through the vast memory banks or our minds and at one point we were discussing the various styles of Japanese imports that are hot on the custom auto circuit. We came to the consensus that the 1996-2001 Honda Prelude, other than having a kewl name, is one hot auto that is a favorite amongst the custom import circuit. Unfortunately, the Prelude was out of production after 2001, but we still see plenty of these particular cars at auto shows.

While driving down the road on a Saturday morning, on the way to shoot the cover truck for the 2003 January-March issue of ESM, I just happened to come across a beautiful white pearl, 1999 Honda Prelude. This particular Prelude really caught my eye, so I stopped in at the auto detail shop, Hendersonville Auto Detail, to talk to the owner. The owner was modest, but his ride tells a different story. This guy, Brandon Powell, had a vision long before the days of “The Fast & The Furious” ever took to the silver screen. He wanted a nice clean ride that would scream custom. Well, we say Brandon’s mission is accomplished so far, but Brandon says his vision has not stopped until he can pull a quicker quarter-mile. In the meantime, we must spill the beans on Brandon’s vision, the Prelude you see so proudly displayed before your very eyes.

The first part of Brandon’s vision was that of a few body mods. This includes the installation of Ground Design’s Black Widow hood, VIS Z3 fenders, Black Widow rear bumper and side skirts, R33 front bumper, and a V-Racing Spoiler. To make this Prelude gleam like a lightning bolt, when it is barreling down the interstate, Brandon opted to go with Cadillac Pearl White paint. After the paint dried and was wet sanded and smoothed to perfection, Brandon decided to add a set of silver graphics which give the effect of forward motion... that of speed.

Speaking of speed, Brandon began to work on the performance of the engine by rebuilding certain parts of it such as replacing the pistons, rings, and valves. A Center Force dual friction clutch replaced the stock one and the stock flywheel was replaced with an 8lb. Clutch Masters flywheel. An AEM cold air intake, DC sport headers, and a Focuz custom cat back exhaust help the Honda power plant breathe with ease while adding a little more horse power. A JET performance computer chip, under drive pulley, A/C pulley, and power steering pulley help to free up some additional horses as well.

On the inside the custom shifter was replaced with a DC Sports Shifter to shorten the throw and to clean up the interior looks. The gauges were replaced with Indiglo gauges, and a brushed billet aluminum dash kit was installed for a simple, yet clean look. The stock radio was ditched for a JVC CD head unit which spins tunes to two 10" MTX 8000 subs that are powered by a 600 watt MTX amplifier.

To help stop this furious sports car when in full throttle, Brandon plus sized the rotors to 12.5" AEM cross drilled/slotted big brake rotors with AEM brake pads. To complete “the look”, the calipers were painted bright blue. Rolling stock consists of Konig 18 inch wheels in a hyper silver finish with 215/35/ZR18 Falken rubber providing the traction.

Brandon has informed us that this car is far from finished. As he put it, “The car you see before your eyes is simply a ‘prelude’ to the ‘vision’!”

Shout Out: I did most of the work on this car and I plan to just keep working on it, adding a turbo intercooler and beefing up the fuel system over the next few months. I dedicate this car in memory of a fallen friend, Gary Honeycutt 06/02/2003. -Brandon