In What Year Did Hyundai Came to Canada
The Veloster N's polarizing win as our Performance Car of the Yr. The RM19'south convincing, production-ready track performance. That twin-turbo, 402-horsepower drift autobus. Hyundai seems to have come out of nowhere, emerging as 1 of the few automakers that still understands what enthusiasts desire. But of course Hyundai didn't come from nowhere. Information technology came from here.
This is the Hyundai Pony, the first car ever exported to Due north America by a Korean automaker. Unless you're Canadian, or Korean, you've probably never heard of information technology. It was never sold in the United states of america, and trust me, you probably didn't want information technology anyway.
But in May of 1985, R&T decided to find out if there were whatever Canada-only cars worth having. Nosotros pitched the Pony up against some of the most bloodcurdling vehicles ever foisted upon a cheapskate population of lumberjacks, hockey players, and hosers. Against declared "cars" like the Lada Signet and the wheezy Dacia GTL, the petty Hyundai did okay. In the easily of Indycar racer Scott Goodyear, the Pony managed a 2:12 lap around Mosport—x seconds slower than a 1.3-liter Honda Civic, only better than the Eastern European turnips.
The Pony was insanely popular in Canada in the mid-1980s. Prices started at $5900 CAD for the basic model, which is about what Bryan Adams paid for his first real six-string. Nobody really knew what a Hyundai was, but hey, Korea's vaguely near Nihon, isn't it? Maybe this affair is going to be as good as a Toyota or Honda, for thousands less. Betwixt 1984 and 1985, 45,000 people shelled out for a Hyundai Pony. A big percentage of them came to regret doing so.
Technically speaking, the start Pony to cross the Pacific was actually the Pony Ii, a confront-lifted version of the original. And we're talking "face up-lift" here as is almost usually associated with the discussion "botched," where someone ends upward being able to blink their eyebrows. The Pony II looks vaguely melancholy, like someone drew a deplorable face on a cardboard box.
Below that underwhelming sheetmetal is a beating heart of unbridled mediocrity. Over at Honda, you could get a Civic Si with fuel injection, front-wheel-drive and a five-speed transmission gearbox. The Pony, in contrast, was basically a mid-1970s economy car dressed up in some blocky '80s shoulder pads.
It was still rear-drive, with a solid rear beam and foliage springs, and came with a 1.iv-liter carbureted engine that was good for a gasping 70hp. When the first Pony arrived in the Korean market in 1975, it was acceptable for the time. Past 1983, Hyundai's effort looked a fiddling bow-legged side by side to Japanese imports. At least the cost tag was appealing.
This particular instance is a 1986 1400GL survivor, with that 1.4-liter and a five-speed transmission transmission. The Pony nosotros pitched around Mosport dorsum in '85 proved there's no replacement for displacement, its upgraded one.six-liter engine cranking out a whopping four additional horsepower. This is the slow 1.
And it is deadening: Zip-to-sixty mph takes nigh fifteen seconds. In that same amount of time you could hit 60 mph in the Veloster N, brake to a total finish, and then whip out your phone and text the Pony driver a series of poop emojis. The Pony GL1400 doesn't have a tachometer, instead featuring a clock in the instrument panel. A calendar might exist more than advisable.
Yet... it's a real auto. It's adequately comfy, easy to encounter out of like all 1980s-era vehicles, and the handling'due south not dangerous. The brakes are really quite good. There's nil overtly embarrassing about driving a Pony, and none of that sense that the gearshift's about to come off in your hand, every bit you might get in a British Leyland production.
The reason that the Pony became the butt of jokes in Canada is that they suffered from all the issues that 1970s Japanese cars had. They were susceptible to rust, and lasting quality just wasn't there. Compared to a 1980s Civic, the Pony was a dispensable gum factory special. Compared to a 1970s Honda, it's really relatively competitive.
If y'all travel to Hyundai's headquarters in Seoul, yous will notice niggling scale models of the original Pony in the gift shop, also every bit T-shirts and other trinkets featuring the car. Korea is proud of its first mass-produced car, and as yous dig into the Pony's history, you can brainstorm to come across why.
In 1974, Hyundai hired ex-British Leyland director Sir George Turnbull to help create its beginning car. Hyundai was founded in 1947 as a construction and engineering company, and had extended into car manufacturing in 1967. Initially, it built a host of European Fords under license, from the Cortina compact to the Tanus total-sized sedan.
Sir George hired on several other British engineers, tapped Giorgio Giugiaro's Italdesign firm for styling, and turned to Mitsubishi to source a powertrain. (This began a long tradition of Hyundais using Mitsubishi-derived engines, and is the reason why you can swap a 4G63T into an Elantra. Which you should totally exercise.)
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The kickoff Pony, which immediately became the best-selling car in Due south Korea, isn't any more impressive than the face-lifted version that was exported. What is brain-melting is the speed with which Hyundai went from building no cars of their own to mass-production of a compact car that was at least equally capable as a contemporary Mazda GLC. Hyundai went from an empty lot to fully-functioning mill in just one twelvemonth, immediately producing cars at a turn a profit. Ask Elon Musk how difficult that feat is.
The reason Canada was chosen equally the beachhead for Hyundai'south North American effort wasn't based around any unique market atmospheric condition—it had to practise with regulations. There was no style the Pony's 1970s powertrain could pass U.South. air pollution restrictions, but Canada's were far more open. In a land that was basically 98-percent copse and bears, nobody thought much virtually air quality.
Harsh winters, common salt on the roads, and the long-distance apply of the Canadian market took an immediate toll on the Pony. The cars disintegrated, and brand epitome faded along with them. It took a long time for average people to consider Hyundai as an equal to the established import brands. When the Excel entered the Usa market in 1986, Hyundai was seen as the bargain brand, not the quality selection.
More than than three decades later, we find echoes of the audacity of Hyundai's early efforts in the Veloster Due north, the Genesis G70, and wild creations like the RM19. The Pony wasn't a great car, but it carried big ambitions.
It took 34 years for Hyundai to become from a first advent in the pages of Route & Track to the cover of the mag. Information technology's come a long way. It's earned the right.
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Source: https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a30168564/the-audacity-of-the-first-hyundai-in-north-america/
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