The Hyundai Excel is the car that carried Hyundai from the rear-wheel-drive Pony era into the modern small-car market. It was the company’s first front-wheel-drive model, it was styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro on the floorpan of the second-generation Mitsubishi Mirage, and in 1986 it set a record for a first-year import in the United States.
Hyundai Excel at a glance
| Maker | Hyundai Motor Company |
|---|---|
| Production | 1985–1999 |
| Based on | second-generation Mitsubishi Mirage |
| Design | own sheet metal by Giorgetto Giugiaro |
| Bodies | three-door and five-door hatchback, four-door sedan |
| Engines | 1.3-litre (1,298 cc) and 1.5-litre (1,468 cc) four-cylinder |
| Power | 66 hp and 71 hp |
| Generation X1 | 1985–1989 |
| Generation X2 | 1989–1995 |
| US price at launch | 4,995 dollars |
| US first-year sales | 168,882 |
| Replaced by | Hyundai Accent, 1994 |
Based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the Hyundai Excel.
History of the Hyundai Excel
The Excel appeared in 1985 as the replacement for the rear-wheel-drive Pony. It used the platform of the second-generation Mitsubishi Mirage but had its own bodywork by Giorgetto Giugiaro, and it came as a three or five-door hatchback and a four-door sedan. Power came from 1.3-litre and 1.5-litre four-cylinder engines of 66 and 71 hp, driving through a manual or automatic gearbox and, depending on market and year, a carburettor or fuel injection.
The Excel was the first Hyundai exported to the United States, and it arrived at the right moment. At 4,995 dollars and with a place in Fortune magazine’s list of best products, it sold 168,882 cars in its first year, a record for a new import, and helped push Hyundai’s cumulative production past one million by 1986. In Australia the car was priced at A$9,990; despite an 87 per cent import duty it became the country’s best-selling imported small car in 1988.
Naming varied by market. In Europe the car continued the Pony name, and buyers there could have a 1.3 or 1.5-litre car in four trim levels and several body styles. In Korea the hatchback was the Pony Excel and the sedan was called the Hyundai Presto. In the United States Mitsubishi sold the same car from the spring of 1987 as the Mitsubishi Precis, to get around the voluntary import quota that applied to the Japanese-built Mirage; the Precis came as a three or five-door with the 68 hp 1.5-litre engine and wore Precis badges in place of Hyundai’s.
The second generation of 1989 was closer to a heavy facelift. A new 1.5-litre engine with electronic fuel injection produced 85 hp, and the four-door Pony sedan was gradually renamed Excel in Europe. Hyundai had planned to replace the Excel with the Elantra in 1990, but the car stayed on sale for four more years, until the Accent took over in 1994. A coupé version, the Scoupe, joined the range in 1990.
Design and features
- Front-wheel drive: the first Hyundai to put the driven wheels at the front.
- Giugiaro body: own sheet metal on the Mitsubishi Mirage floorpan.
- Three bodies: three and five-door hatchbacks and a four-door sedan.
- American breakthrough: the first Hyundai sold in the United States, with 168,882 cars in its first year.
Hyundai Excel versions
- Excel X1 (1985–1989): the original car, sold as the Pony in Europe.
- Pony Excel and Presto (Korea): hatchback and sedan names for the home market.
- Mitsubishi Precis: the American version sold by Mitsubishi from 1987 to 1994.
- Excel X2 (1989–1995): facelifted car with a fuel-injected 85 hp engine.
- Scoupe (from 1990): the coupé based on the Excel.
The Excel replaced the Pony and was itself replaced by the Accent; its coupé relative was the Scoupe. More Hyundai models are in the Hyundai collection.
Sources
- Hyundai Excel, English Wikipedia: origin, engines, names, American sales, generations
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