Hyundai Pony: South Korea’s first mass-produced export car

The Hyundai Pony is the small rear-wheel-drive car Hyundai built from 1975 to 1990, and it was South Korea’s first mass-produced and exported automobile. Its engineering came from an unusual mix: British Leyland’s former managing director George Turnbull and five of his colleagues, Mitsubishi engines and platform, Ford Cortina parts that Hyundai was already building under licence, and a hatchback body styled by Italdesign Giugiaro.

Hyundai Pony at a glance

Based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the Hyundai Pony. Free photographs of the car were not available, so the page keeps the old cover.

History of the Hyundai Pony

Hyundai had been building Ford Cortinas under licence since 1968, and when it decided to make a car of its own it hired George Turnbull, the former managing director of Austin and Morris at British Leyland, in 1974. Turnbull brought in five British engineers, among them Kenneth Barnett for the body, John Simpson and Edward Chapman, John Crosthwaite for the chassis and Peter Slater as chief development engineer. With Turnbull’s experience of the Morris Marina, engines and transmissions from Mitsubishi, a platform from the Mitsubishi Lancer, parts from the Cortina Hyundai already made and a body by Italdesign Giugiaro, they developed the Pony.

The car was shown as a coupé concept at the Turin motor show in October 1974 and went on sale in December 1975 as a four-door saloon, aimed at the Saehan Gemini and the Kia Brisa. A coupé utility joined the range in May 1976; its cargo tray was part of the body rather than a separate assembly, so it was not quite a conventional pickup. An estate followed in April 1977, and in 1981 the small boot lid of the saloon was replaced by a hatchback tailgate to create a five-door liftback, along with a new three-door liftback.

Exports began in 1976 to Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Egypt. European sales started in 1979 with Belgium and the Netherlands, soon joined by Greece, and the pickup version arrived there in October of that year with the 1.2-litre engine and a 380 kg payload. A 1,238 cc four-cylinder claimed 55 PS and a 1,439 cc unit produced 68 PS; the British magazine Motor tested a 1.4 GLS at 92 mph and 15.3 seconds to 60 mph.

The second generation, the Pony II, arrived in January 1982. It was mechanically similar to the first car but extensively restyled, and only the five-door liftback and the two-door pickup were offered. With it, exports to Britain began in spring 1982, making the Pony the first South Korean car sold there; it was positioned as a budget alternative between Eastern Bloc brands such as Lada and Skoda and the cheaper Japanese models. For 1984 the Pony came only with the 1,439 cc Mitsubishi 4G33 engine of 70 hp, later joined and then replaced by 1,598 cc units of 74 hp, with four or five-speed manuals or a three-speed automatic. The Pony nameplate lived on until 2000 on some export versions of the Excel and Accent.

Design and features

• First of its kind: Korea’s first mass-produced and exported car.
• International team: British Leyland engineers and Italian styling on a Mitsubishi base.
• Rear-wheel drive: conventional engineering, with Mitsubishi engines.
• British breakthrough: the Pony II of 1982 was the first Korean car sold in Britain.

Hyundai Pony versions

• Pony saloon (1975): the original four-door car.
• Pony coupé utility (1976): the pickup with an integral cargo tray.
• Pony estate (1977): the five-door estate.
• Pony liftback (1981): three and five-door hatchbacks replacing the booted saloon.
• Pony II (1982): restyled second generation as a liftback and pickup.

The Pony was replaced by the Excel, and Hyundai had learned to build cars by assembling the Cortina. More Hyundai models are in the Hyundai collection.

Video: Hyundai Pony 1.5 cold start

Video by djsamanti on YouTube.

Sources

• Hyundai Pony, English Wikipedia: development, bodies, engines, exports, generations