The first GT Award winner in seven years has been crowned, at the inaugural Gran Turismo Fan Fest in Los Angeles, with the trophy going to a one-off Prelude build from SoCal Honda fanatic Big Mike.
Mike (no last name given) and his Prelude are pretty well known in Honda circles, with this actually being the third version of the build presented in the last 15 years — evolving with each iteration, and a different color scheme each time.
In present form, the Prelude is close to the specification displayed at SEMA in 2016 where it came in the top ten in the Battle of the Builders. The GT Award was still in its own original form then, with GT series producer Kazunori Yamauchi selecting a 1951 Ford Coupe as his winner. This car later made its digital debut in Gran Turismo 7 as the Wicked Fabrication GT51.
That means the Prelude sports a custom F20B engine similar to the one found in the late-90s Honda Accord SiR in Japan but with a serious kick from a Garrett GT28X turbocharger. Power is getting in the region of 400hp, marshalled to the unusually wide front wheels through Wavetrac LSD.
However the build is more about minimalism and OEM+ than simply a big-power Honda. The front end merges the original ’92 Prelude bumper with a Jun item, and the wide arches — an inch and a half wider each side — were moulded from the originals. They help accommodate those 275mm tires, wrapped around Volk Racing CE28N 17x9s, themselves necessary to fit over six-pot Wilwood calipers.
What’s not there is as relevant as what is. You might notice the surprisingly wire-free engine bay, which comes courtesy of a complete rewiring from Rywire. The cabin is made of clean lines too, but by removing unnecessary instrumentation and holes, then cladding everything in suede. Underneath, Big Mike reports that every nut, bolt, and washer has been replaced.
We’re sure that’s barely scratching the surface of this build, 20 years in the making, and certainly the car made an impression on Yamauchi in order to select it from the 50 varied vehicles that entered the show and competition.
While Big Mike’s Prelude now joins the ranks of the 16 — now 17 — cars to earn this recognition, it’s likely going to be a while before we see it in a Gran Turismo game. The most recent addition to the stable from the SEMA awards was the Garage RCR Civic, which won in 2017 and appeared only in GT7 update 1.38 in September 2023. It might be a while then.
Either way though, it’s good to see the return of these awards on a new generation of modified cars. Congratulations also to Big Mike, and we all hope to drive your car virtually soon!
See more articles on GT Awards.
