Hyundai was the first car manufacturer in Korea. They began in the late 70s by making the Pony, a basic, RWD subcompact. It was based on a mitsubishi design, and was by all accounts, pretty crappy. But it was cheap. And I gather it enjoyed a measure of popularity in Canada.

Anyhow, cheap and crappy was pretty much the tone for the next 15 years or so before they finally started wising up to the fact that they couldn't just keep churning out the cars Mitsubishi decided weren't good enough for THEIR brand.

Now, Hyundai might own Kia, but I think they recognize that there is a market out there for people who want small, cheap cars, but don't trust the Kia name. Hell, even in KOREA this market exists.

People actually race these things. Well, that would be a cheap sport to enter.

I think this one is less race and more rice.

Koreans like stickers. I really doubt any of these parts are in this car. It's not impossible. But I doubt it.

Daewoo has the Matiz. Kia has the Visto (probably based on the same platform as this, and it DOES share parts), and Hyundai has the Atoz.

It was sold in some markets as the Atos.


They look best in blue I think.


There is a Kia version, called the Visto.

I seemed to be facing a choice between color or contrast.

This is a delivery vehicle on base.

The Avante is Hyundai's next car up from the Accent. Think of it as their Corolla. It's a very popular vehicle around here, and I'm told by an owner, quite reliable.

I believe this is the same as the Elantra. You see a lot fewer 5 doors in Korea.


I rented one in Arizona recently, and it was surprisingly good. Very nice interior, and it handles pretty well. Torque steer is noticable, and there was this weird vibration at above 65, but that might have been the wheels being unbalanced. Regardless, if I was looking for a new car, and I was planning on keeping it for the full length of the warranty, I'd consider it. (Otherwise, though, I don't know why anyone would consider it)

Those better be rocket nozzles.

This is a segment not really well-represented in the US. The tall subcompact. In Japan there are a bunch of Corolla variants like this. In the US the only one we get is the Toyota Matrix. I guess there was the Colt Vista way back when.

The Click is a replacement for the Hyundai Atoz, and is sold as the Atoz/Atos in some markets.

That really is a terrible name for a car. Especially one from a company whose reliability is still questioned. You don't name a car after a sound a malfunctioning engine could make.

At a dealer.

That's usually like 9,000 dollars.

Based on the Mitsubishi Debonair, this was Hyundai's flagship car until the introduction of the Equus. Not a bad looking car, I guess.

You see a lot more Equuses and Dynasties around than you'd expect for someplace with such terribly cramped streets. I really have to wonder what is wrong with a lot of Koreans. It's a country where driving cannot be anything other than a chore...the roads are all too congested and/or narrow to have any fun, and yet they're as hooked on huge cars and SUVs as Americans are.

Starting at around 40 grand and going up to about 70 (you read that correctly) for the 4.5 liter version, this is the successor to the Dynasty, and is Hyundai's current flagship.

Hyundai's name does not have the power to carry such a vehicle in the US. In Korea, though, consumers don't really have as much choice.

For example, a BMW 3 series costs almost twice what it does in the states. I mean an absolutely base model 325 is like 50,000 dollars.

The Excel was Hyundai's front wheel drive car, a replacement for the Pony.

It was also sold by Mitsubishi as the Precis. It was available as a 4 door sedan, or 3 or 5 door hatchback.

The coupe version introduced later, called the Scoupe, was the basis for the later Tiburon/Tuscani.

This is the seco nd generation.

The Hyundai Grandeur is based on the Mitsubishi Debonair, and has for almost 20 years been Hyundai's most prominent model. It starts at around 25 grand, making it much more affordable for the pretentious Korean businessman, and therefore much more common.

The Grandeur has long been one of Koreas better-looking cars, and the current model, shown here, is perhaps the best ever (barring maybe the Tiburon/Tuscani).

I see a lot of the Toyota Mark X in this. But the Mark X is better, because it is not a fucking gigantic FWD car. The Grandeur is.

The body's undergone a few major revisions over the years.

We got this generation as the XG. The current generation is sold as the Azera. Both are much, much cheaper in the US than they are in Korea.

Notice something about all the Grandeurs above? And most in Korea? I don't even know if this color would have been available from the factory.

Here is a classic Osan Air Force Base beater, a first generation Grandeur.


You rarely see these off base, actually

And one more last-generation one.

For the active young family living the crazy life.

Hyundai's Korean website puts this in the "RV" section, with their SUVs like the Terracan.

The Hyundai Santamo was based upon the Mitsubishi Chariot (Which we got briefly as the Expo.)

For some reason, Daejun is swarming with these things. You hardly see them in Gyeonggi-do (Seoul metro), in comparison.

The Sonata has been Hyundai's bread-and-butter model since the late 80s. This is their attempt to take on the Camry and Accord and Altima, and their miserable failure in doing so. Seriously, it took them like 16 years to get people to stop laughing at the comparison. Better late than never.

The Sonata is popular as a: Cop car, Taxicab...well, that's it. And just a car.

This is a true Osan car. Beat to shit and rusted to hell. Except that most of them are also at least 5 years older than this.


Here's a later Sonata.


And here's the new Sonata (which is very nice)

This is a DMZ vehicle


More new Sonata.

I mean, it's really nice inside. Quality design, quality materials.


Heheh.

This is the very rare Hyundai Pony Pickup. It was made through 1988, but Korean cars being what they were back then, not many survive. I've only ever seen the one. Apparently they were comparatively popular in Canada. I don't think they were even sold in the US.

Yep, rear wheel drive. The Pony was based on a Mitsubishi design which Mitsubishi elected not to use (kind of like Lotus and the MR2, I guess), and used Mitsubishi engines.

This was a coupe version of the much maligned Hyundai Excel. I don't know if it was any good, but it was pretty good looking.

Kind of like an SVX with it's awesomeness halved.

TIBURON

This generation of Hyundai Coupe was called the Tiburon in Korea just as it was in the US.

They should have stuck with it. Slapping an Italian name on a FWD coupe doesn't automagically make it sporting.

AKA the Hyundai Coupe and the Hyundai Tiburon. This is an evolution of the Scoupe (Excel Coupe). But with most of the suck removed.



I suspect that the Tuscani/Tiburon is the only Hyundai (indeed, the only Korean car) most people reading these pages would even THINK about buying at the prices they sell for.

By most accounts, the Tiburon is a good-performer, reliable, and safe. It doesn't get very good fuel economy for it's size, despite the fact that most of them only LOOK like sports cars.

Also you might have noticed it is popular with ricers.

I'm not sure where this car fit in. Honestly, is there room for something between the Accent and Elantra? I seriously doubt it. Maybe that's why you don't see many of these.

Ah, I see wherein my confusion lies. This is the replacement in Korea for the Elantra. The Elantra name lives on (because Hyundai USA is apparantly smarter about these things than Hyundai Korea) tacked onto this thing.

It has recently undergone a face lift. I think the results are analogous to those one gets from plastic surgery.

Hyundai makes trucks. Actually, since Kia bought Asia in 1998, and since Hyundai bought Kia, they are now the only manufacturer of light trucks (and not like SUPER-light) in Korea. (Samsung, Daewoo, and maybe Ssangyong still make heavy ones.)

I'm not sure they adequately secured that load

Daewoo, Hyundai, and Ssangyong make busses in Korea. Believe it or not, I think I like the Daewoos best. Kind of odd calling something with the aerodynamics of a shipping container the "aero."

This is a DMZ tour bus.

Hyundai makes several sizes of bus.

This is the small one.

These are the small ones. Actually, I think the Chorus is a previous model, and the County is their current one.

So I found all the busses I was looking for at a ski resort.

The Hyundai Galloper is, I strongly suspect, the same damn thing as a Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero.


Wikipedia agrees. The Galloper is (made from 1991 to 2003) the same thing, essentially, as a first generation Mitsubishi Pajero. (That's the Montero to you and me)


The "Exceed" tacked on to some Gallopers is even taken from the Pajero. Cosmetically, the only differences in the early models appear to be the grille, maybe some of the front end, and in some cases the roof. Hey, why mess with success?


It's popular with such groups as...fire departments. And the US Air Force Security Forces.

This is a newer one.

This generation just strikes me as less of an off-roader than it's predecessor.

They all just look ..well they look to have less ground clearance at any rate. However, the original Pajero seems to have been pretty capable in the dirt.


Gas company galloper


The galloper lies in wait for it's prey to pass by.


They're not terribly spectacular, comfort-wise. But I can't complain, free ride.


They briefly flirted with keeping it as the Innovation, but dropped the ironically renamed vehicle in favor of their own SUVs, like the Santa Fe, Tucson, and Terracan.

We get these in the US.


Not much to say about them I guess. They were pretty popular as staff cars.

Hyundai's made vans for a good long while. Originally it was called the Hyundai Grace.

Grace is something all vans inherently lack.

The Hyundai Galloper Innovation is a version of the Galloper with it's off-road capabilities upgraded with the addition of several hundred pounds of plastic.

See all that snow? It wouldn't be sticking there if it wasn't for those stupid plastic fender flares.

The Innovation is what the Galloper was called for the last year or two of manufacture, before it was finally axed in favor of Hyundai's own SUVs.

Hyundai's full-size pickup. But with a box on the back this time.



Seems like yellow is a popular color for martial arts studios and churches

Libero tow truck

Hyundai's regular truck. This has been around for ages, and is very popular.


These things only have engine options up to 125 horsepower and 150 ft-pounds of torque. That's the MOST powerful. Guess what. It's enough, and you're going to have to get used to it yourself. This is the future. However, I'm guessing the future will also mean more fuel-efficient engines than Korea typically produces. These manage about 20mpg. Not bad for a vehicle of this size...but of this power?

All that lack of power, and they can carry 2200 pounds.

You might notice that the bed is really goddamn long. This is one of the benefits of using cab-over-engine instead of cab-behind-engine as in the US. The other is forward visibility. One of these is going to be much easier to maneuver in tight spaces than an F-150.

I've seen these things with basically whole grocery stores being operated off the bed.

On some Korean cab-over-engine trucks, the entire cab tilts forward to access the engine. I don't know if that is the case on the Porter. Maybe it's mid-engine like the Towner and Labo?

See, they've been making these a while now.

This is the replacement for the Grace. Hyundai's current van, the Starex. I think it may have some commonality with the Libero truck.

This variant is called the "SVX." That made me laugh. (See, the SVX is a really fucking badass Subaru coupe...)

The current large (US Mid-size) SUV from Hyundai, the Terracan replaces the Galloper.

Hyundai's minivan. Not much else to say.

Hyundai makes big trucks, too. I have no fucking clue what this truck is for. It sells for anywhere from 36 to 42000 dollars, with a flatbed.

On to Hyundai's vassal, Kia.

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