The new Honda Civic Prototype is the latest talk of the town ever since it was unveiled Twitch earlier this week. And while we can easily ogle over the Civic prototype’s sleek new look and ponder what it’s going to look like on the inside, in addition to other important details, we have to wonder if real deal 2022 Honda Civic is going to look pretty much the same when it goes into production.

What’s in a prototype?

If you have been following along on Honda’s reveals in the past few decades, you’ll realize that most of the “concepts” that the automaker debuts at auto shows typically become the actual car when it’s finally released. It’s as if they’ve been trying to pull a fast one on everybody by telling us that Superman is not actually Clark Kent without the glasses. Right, we’re sure that there’s really nothing to see here.

Of course, no one is really complaining that Honda seemingly tries to pull the wool over our collective eyes by slapping the word “prototype” onto the moniker because, while other brands tend to stray away from their concept cars when it comes to production time, Honda sticks to it. It’s as if the automaker is saying, “If you like it here, you’ll love it at home,” or at least when it hits the dealer showrooms. Case in point, we’re most likely looking at the real 2022 Honda Civic in these pictures.

Other Honda prototypes

The Drive recently asked why Honda debuts prototype cars that close to production cars and a Honda spokesperson, Matt Sloustcher, replied, “Honda does build concept vehicles of various kinds to explore new design directions, but we generally reveal them publicly only when they will directly influence future products. From a practical standpoint, the feedback we received was valuable and informed some of the production vehicle work that ensued in the following years.”

He then pointed out some of the recently released Honda and Acura prototypes like the MDX prototype that was unveiled in October, the RDX prototype from 2018, and the Civic Type R prototype from 2017, all of which looked much like the actual production cars. And let’s not forget the “SSM Concept” that Honda debuted in 1995. It looks strangely familiar to a popular roadster that the automaker released just four years later.

Why doesn’t Honda just unveil the production cars?

So the big question is: Why doesn’t Honda just release the full production car instead of teasing us with a prototype? And the answer, according to Sloustcher, is, “That question presumes we have a fully complete final design, but some final decisions are made at the very end of a development,” he said. “The 11th-generation Civic launch will start with the introduction of the sedan in North America late Spring next year, so we’ve still got quite a bit of runway left.”

Apparently, there is always room for improvement when it comes to the final production of any car. Also, considering we haven’t even seen the interior of the latest Civic prototype, it’s safe to say that the automaker probably still has it in the works. In that case, we’re excited to see the next installment of the 2022 Civic prototype, that is, unless Honda decides to skip it altogether and just give us the real deal, which should be in dealer showrooms next Spring.