Hyundai's debut

[etatauri]

I was able to scoop up this article on the internet regarding Hyundai's Pony. Here is an excerpt from the first page (4 short pages total):

"The Pony brings back so many memories. My neighbors even get choked up when I pull into the apartment parking lot," said Lee, who at 27 is only three years older than his red Pony.

"I have to roll down the window because my car doesn't have air conditioning. Drivers will pull up to me at lights, roll down their windows and start sharing stories about their Pony."

And here is the link (Rueters India): Hyundai Pony leaves its mark on South Korea car market

Its a good read and I would recommend you read it if you are into Hyundai.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzZVHV5yEME[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Mark_888]

"The Pony brings back so many memories. My neighbors even get choked up when I pull into the apartment parking lot," said Lee, who at 27 is only three years older than his red Pony.

Maybe in Korea people get "choked up" about a Hyundai, but I don't think that happens too much in the US.

 

[etatauri]

Haha, its true. I suppose everybody has different experiences. This is mine: Our family came to the US when I was 3. I think our first Hyundai was an Excel Hatchback with rust all over it. This was when my dad was still a grad student and my mom had to sell cosmetics door to door to support our family of 4. We lived in a one bedroom apartment where all four of us sleeped together. We had like no money and my parents spoke barely and English haha. I would barely see my dad except for some weekends and some of the fondest memories I have were in the Excel because it was one of few times when our whole family got together. Now of course we live comfortably because of my parents who worked so hard to raise me and my sister. I am now 24 and we were able to get our citizenship just a couple days ago! When I look at Hyundais, especially the Excel, I really can't help but remember some of my childhood memories. I don't get so choked up about it, but I do get this warm fuzzy feeling that somehow Hyundai has become an old friend or family to me. Their success story not only mirrors our family's journey, but also our country's journey into a developed country. That's why I really want to own a Genesis as a tribute to my parents' hard work to achieve that American Dream. And then I saw Hyundai's recent commercial that did make me a little choke up a bit. Here is the link: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2uUsFXJZX4"]YouTube - Hyundai's Academy Award Commercial "Together"[/ame]

 

[dataguy]

Congratulations on your citizenship, etatauri! It humbles me that folks are willing to leave their native lands and give up their citizenships there in order to join our imperfect society.

 

[Gwaneum]

The Pony mentioned in the article is the second generation, which was available in Canada but not in the US.

I'm actually partial to the original Pony, which was not available anywhere in North America. My avatar is a 1979 Pony - the fifth year of the original model. My father had one back in the day in South Korea, at a time when car ownership was a luxury.

The Pony was the first indigenous South Korean automobile, even though it did have to borrow lots of existing technology from other companies. It was also to South Korea what the Ford Model T was to the US, and what the VW Beetle was to postwar West Germany - the car that finally made private car ownership a common occurrence.

If I ever do a classic car collection of my own, I'll insist on having two, and only two, Hyundai vehicles - the original Pony, and my current Genesis. Though finding a surviving example of the original Pony is outright impossible in South Korea, as too many were scrapped prematurely in the late 1980s (a fate similar to that met by too many Chrysler Airflows in the 1930s); everyone by then had moved on to newer, more presentable cars, and any appreciation of antique cars in South Korea is a very newfound phenomenon. It'll be much easier tracking down a Pony in one of its 60 export markets - Egypt is supposed to be a good bet.

EDIT: I forgot to add - in retrospect, most people who know the Pony seem to agree that it was a very good car. Agile, reliable, and very suitable for the crappy South Korean roads of its day. The Excel, by comparison, would be a total piece of scrap metal, and that's something I stand by.

 

[Gwaneum]

One more interesting thing about the Pony was that it was a rare Hyundai to be made available in a bunch of different body types.

The original was first built as a 4-door sedan, though its profile looked hatchback-ish. It was later joined by a 5-door wagon, a 2-door pickup truck, and a 3-door hatchback. There was also a 3-door sports coupe concept version, which never entered production, but looks a lot like a DeLorean, very avant-garde for its day. ItalDesign was responsible for all the body designs.

The second generation was available as a 5-door hatchback and a 2-door pickup truck only. When I drove around South Korea a year ago, I could still see a few pickup truck versions, some still being used as daily drivers. The last Pony was built in 1988 AFAIK.

The Excel was supposed to be the third-generation Pony, despite its parts content being far more Mitsubishi and far less European, and despite its front-wheel-drive powertrain. Its initial model name was indeed the Pony Excel, but the Pony portion was dropped by the time the US exports began. The European Excels kept the Pony name, however, all the way until the Accent was introduced.

 

[Gwaneum]

Photos of the 1974 Pony Sports Coupe prototype. A sharp looking car that never had a market.

Note the blocky "HD" logo on the grille. That was Hyundai's original logo until the early 1980s.

 

[JOwest]

That Pony Sport Coupe look very much like the Bricklin.

 

[HunDan]

I think it looks like the DeLorean. " Back to the Future"

 

[Sal Collaziano]

I think it looks like the DeLorean. " Back to the Future"

Yeah, I agree. That Hyundai isn't a bad looking little car for the time...

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[crepen]

I think it looks like the DeLorean. " Back to the Future"

Note the ital design logo in the rear view. Giorgetto Giugiaro also designed the delorean.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Note the ital design logo in the rear view. Giorgetto Giugiaro also designed the delorean.

Well there ya go!

 

[Gwaneum]

As I said in my previous posts, Italdesign did all the Pony exteriors. For that matter, later Hyundai models, including the Excel and the first Sonata, had Italdesign bodies.