1995 Honda Prelude Si

My dad always liked automobiles.  The first car he bought new was a 1941 Buick Special.  If my memory serves me,  he traveled back to Flint, MI and picked it up at the factory, thus saving the shipping charges across the Rockies.  With gas around $0.20 per gallon, he actually saved money.  This was within a year of WWII - presumably summer of 1941.  When he enlisted, he put the car up on blocks in a neighbor's garage for the duration of the war.  

​Automobile production ceased after 3-4 months of 1942 model production and did not resume until the 1946 model year.  Fortunately for the Buick and for me, he survived the war, serving in the South Pacific.  He spent most of his time defending New Guinea from Japanese invasion..  I must point out that N.G. was never captured by the Japanese.   (Watch the movie South Pacific to see what the war was like for those who served there)

This is me, sitting on the hood of dad's '41 Special, with my mom making sure I don't fall on my head. The car is parked in the driveway of 725 Manbrin Dr. where I lived from 1948-1968.

I would give a substantial amount to own this car, but that is not going to happen.  However, I have managed to hang onto my dad's LAST car.  Mom died in 1992.  In 1995 dad decided he wanted a new car.  He had studied Consumer Reports and was impressed with the fourth generation of the Honda Prelude.  He told me of his ambition and said that mom had told him he was too old to drive a stick shift.  I suggested that he test drive both and get whichever one he was comfortable with.  Next thing I heard, he had bought a red Prelude Si with 5-speed manual.  He recognized that it was very likely his last car and said to me, anticipating that I would inherit it, "You're really going to like this car!'  Sadly, it never occurred to me to take a picture of him with this car.

I did indeed inherit the Honda.  I drove it from Spring 1996 until Fall 2003 when I bought a 2004 Mazda RX-8 - the first year of the RX-8.  (Dad had once owned an RX-7)  I passed the Prelude on to my son, David.  I drove it from East Texas to Northern California for him.  He had it until early this year, when he had relocated to Southern California and was driving another vehicle.  The Prelude was parked in his step-dad's back yard in Santa Rosa, CA.  I did not want to see it just rust away, so I asked for it back and had it shipped back to Texas.  It had not been driven a lot during the fifteen years David had it, but given that it is now twenty-three years old, it was in need of some updating.  

​I've had the Prelude back about six weeks now and all the pressing mechanical/electrical work is completed.  New timing belt, exhaust header, shocks/struts, new radio with nav and back-up camera.  I elected to replace the stock headlights with more modern ones with DRL feature and to replace the US-spec front corner & turn signal lights with JDM all amber units.  Here are pics of a stock front and dad's updated Si.

In the above two, right-side photos you will note that I have also lowered the license plate to below the bumper face (why would Honda put the plate right in the center of the bumper where it will surely get bent?)  In the top (right) photo the DRL halos are on.  In the bottom (right) photo the high and low beams are both on.  This blog will not host a video (I'd have to pay for that privilege), but what is interesting about the turn signal is that the two lenses in the lower corner of the bumper alternate back and forth,