Honda Prelude received by judges of the European Car of the Year accolade for 1988, finished third in a contest where the Peugeot 405 was the runaway winner and the Citroen AX came second. This was one of the best performances by a Japanese built or branded car until the Nissan Micra won the award five years later. In 1987, "Road & Track" published a test summary that shows the 1988 Honda Prelude 2.0Si 4WS outperforming every car of that year on the slalom, with a speed of , even besting exotics such as Porsche and Ferrari. For reference, the 1988 Chevrolet
European Car of the Year been named European Car of the Year. Sports cars have traditionally accounted for only a tiny percentage of car sales throughout Europe, but the European Car of the Year accolade was won by one for 1978, when the Porsche 928 sealed the award in the face of competition from the BMW 7 Series and Ford Granada. Just before the sale of its European division to Peugeot, Chrysler achieved a success second in the contest with its Horizon, which won the 1979 award ahead of one of its main rivals, Fiat Ritmo/Strada. Lancia finally achieved recognition a year later when its