John Cena has been lending his dependable, confident voice to Honda commercials for a little more than five years now. (If he’s actually present in the ads, we can’t see him.) But he’s also a longtime enthusiast, and that’s reflected in the Hondas he chooses to drive. Back in 2023, he revealed that he dailied a Boost Blue, FK8 Civic Type R; about a year later, he traded the sports sedan in for a fresh, Championship White FL5. Now, he’s continuing the theme with a new Prelude.
The wrestler and actor took the keys to one of Honda’s hybrid coupes over the weekend, matching the color of his old FK8. Cena said he picked up his Prelude from Wesley Chapel Honda outside Tampa, Florida, while taking his CTR in for service. That’s not surprising, considering he’s a superstar and ambassador for the brand, but it is still funny to think about. The guy accumulates new Hondas like he did championship belts.
Of course, Cena’s two cars in that picture share plenty in common. The Prelude is built on the Civic chassis and incorporates the Type R’s suspension and brakes. Where they really differ, door count aside, is in their powertrains. The Civic Type R makes 315 horsepower from Honda’s latest K-series turbo-four, while the Prelude produces quite a bit less than that—200, to be precise—but is a hybrid, so at least it’s decently torquey.
Cena did a spot for Honda featuring the Prelude last fall, and in late 2024, he narrated one of the best motorsport-themed ads in recent memory, featuring clips of Ayrton Senna and Max Verstappen.
Ultimately, if you’re the kind of guy who enjoys a good Civic but has room for something slightly more comfortable and luxurious in your garage, the Prelude is probably a fine choice. (So too would be an Integra Type S, but we’ve yet to see Cena drive one of those off the lot.) And don’t chalk it all up to an endorsement deal; Cena used to own a Jaguar XJ13 replica, so he’s a man of unquestionable taste.
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Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
