Honda Integra to return in 2022

Honda has confirmed that it plans to revive the famous Integra nameplate after a 15-year hiatus with an all-new model that will be launched next year.

In a teaser image that shows a sharply-styled front headlight, and part of the grille, bonnet and front bumper, Honda has not yet made it clear if the so-called "compact premium" 2022 Honda Integra will be a modern take on the four generations of small sports coupes that made the nameplate famous from 1986-2006.

However, a drone show promoting the return of the Integra appears to suggest a coupe silhouette that will probably feature four doors.

Confirmed by Honda North America's premium brand, Acura, the Integra return has been locked in for 2022 – in North America, at least.

There's no word yet on whether the reborn Integra will be built in right-hand drive and therefore available for the Australian market.

Refusing to comment explicitly on what shape or form an Integra reboot will take, Acura would only say that the all-new model will "rejoin the performance brand's product portfolio as a new compact premium entrant".

However, a spokesman for Acura added that when the Integra is launched it would offer the "same fun-to-drive spirit and DNA of the original".

It's been rumoured that in the US the Integra will be positioned as an indirect replacement for the halo Honda NSX, production for which comes to an end once the final 350 Type S versions of the hybrid supercar have been built.

If so, the Integra could be built at the same Marysville, Ohio, plant in the US and is likely to feature either an advanced hybrid or full pure-electric powertrain – or possibly both, with the hybrid's sporty soundtrack previewed on a video posted on social media.

The original Honda Integra was launched back in 1985 as an affordable Civic-based coupe.

Its image radically changed in 1995 when the fast Honda Integra Type R was launched, offering near 150kW from a tiny 1.8-litre VTEC engine that revved to 8700rpm.

Thanks to its lightweight body and mechanically locking differential, the two-door coupe won fans among performance car enthusiasts around the globe.