Hyundai Scoupé

The Hyundai Scoupé: Even classic

'Classic? Could it be? `That was a bit of a reaction when I saw a Hyundai S coupe 1,5i GT from 1991. And let's face it: There are also editors Auto Motor Klassiek days passed without us dreaming about Hyundai's affordable coupe.

An affordable coupe

The in-house designed Scoupé was the continuation of the Renault Caravelle, FIAT 850 coupe and Ford Capri series. The Koreans saw that the disappearance of the Cheap Coupé had left a gap in the market and decided to fill it with a coupe that was indeed cheap. The result was certainly not unpleasant. In fact, the Scoupé was a Hyundai Pony in a leotard. The line consisted of the GS. The more luxurious GT and the super luxurious GTX.

And all those Scoupé's had the same 1,5 liter four-cylinder twelve-valve as it was in the Pony and Exel, but with a more intelligent injection system. The engine was strong with 84 hp at 5.500 rpm. The Scoupé is not sporty, but lively at best. The engine hums emphatically at top speed. Totally unleashed, such a Hyundai just ran 170 km / h. The handling is sufficient for people who do not drive at the cutting edge. At the introduction, the car was seen as pretty, but with a somewhat swollen rear end. The brakes were better on paper than on the road. There were even ventilated discs on the front. But in practice, after some solid testing, the brakes gave up smoking and convincingly.

Super complete

The control combined vagueness with insensitivity around the middle position. But from the driver's seat life in such a Scoupé wasn't that bad. The interior even turned out to be unexpectedly large. The rear seat can be folded completely or asymmetrically so that even skis can be transported. The further equipment of the Hyundai GS and GT was overwhelmingly complete at the time. Including electrically adjustable exterior mirrors and electrically operated windows. With the GTX, the buyer also got light-alloy wheels with a size of wider tires and power steering. And all in a cheap coupe. An automatic transmission with what we would now call 'two driving modes' ('economy and sport') was optional. And that was an offer that usually did not even exist in this price range. Funny is that Hyundai claimed that you could drive more economically with the automatic transmission than with a gearbox.

Nice cheerful colors

The Scoupé's were cheerfully colored. Bright red, hard blue, pitch black, warm corn yellow and snow white. The gray flank protectors contrasted nicely with that. In 1991, Greenib hoped to sell such 1.000 Scoupés RECOVERY to bring a wife.

The rebirth of the new affordable coupe was quite successful. The fear of Asian cars was well over in the early 1990s. The cars were good, not expensive and richly equipped. And they were disposable products. They were not cherished. They disappeared.

Rare. But not wanted

In the meantime, such a Hyundai Scoupé is not yet the car for which tons are paid at auctions. Such a small Hyundai is rarer than a Bugatti Veyron. Most of them are closed after use and disappeared. And a good one will cost you - if you can find one - about 1000 euros. That must have been a copy that was forgotten by the first owner in the corner of the garage after purchasing the first upgrade after a Korean.