Which 1987 Honda coupe offered mechanical four-wheel steering?

The 1987 Honda coupe that offered mechanical four-wheel steering was the Honda Prelude.

The feature appeared on the third-generation Prelude, launched in Japan on April 9, 1987, and sold in other markets later that year or as a 1988 model. Unlike many later systems that used electronic control, this version used two steering boxes connected by a dedicated mechanical steering shaft. It was offered as the Prelude 4WS system rather than being fitted to every version.

At small steering angles, the rear wheels helped the car change direction more quickly during lane changes and high-speed cornering. At larger steering inputs, the rear wheels turned in the opposite direction to the fronts, reducing the turning circle and helping with low-speed maneuvers such as parallel parking.

The Prelude is sometimes confused with other sporty Hondas of the period, including the CRX and Integra, but those were not the model associated with this landmark mechanical four-wheel-steering system. Later Prelude generations changed to electronically controlled four-wheel steering, so “1987” is an important clue to the original mechanical arrangement.