(first posted 5/3/2016) I saw a Hyundai Equus not too long ago. Black, with diplomatic plates and polished to a shine, it was just as imposing as any S-Class or Jaguar XJ. Something with which the South Korean embassy could ferry his dignitaries about without having to drive someone else’s flagship.
So, to paraphrase the Talking Heads, how did we get here?
Unsurprisingly, and given Hyundai’s history, the story of the Equus (We’ll get to the 350 in a bit, I swear) begins with Mitsubishi. In 1986 they launched this, the Debonair. Designed to complete with the likes of the Toyota Crown and the Nissan Cedric. It looks like someone from Mitsubishi decided to take the Chinese method of design and penned a sedan that would look like a legitimate luxury car if you squint really hard.
For reference purposes, here’s the Toyota Crown of that era. Then again, you could get the Debonair as a special V3000 Royal AMG (yes, that AMG) model
Anyway, Right around the time, Hyundai realized they had a bit of a problem. They were sponsors of the 1988 Olympics, but they didn’t have a car in their roster that would be luxurious enough to actually ferry important people around. Oh, sure they were building Mk. II Ford Granadas as their big car offering but it was highly unlikely that the decade-old design would impress people and bring Hyundai’s name into the foreground. Especially because the Hyundai-Ford Granada didn’t actually have any Hyundai badging on it. Fortunately, Mitsubishi was more than willing to share their Debonair with Hyundai, who rebadged it Grandeur.
This is the result. It seems it was subject to about the same amount of work that was done to differentiate GM A-bodies. I’m sure that the Japanese Olympic delegation who went on to win 14 medals on those games had little difficulty in picking out the connection between the two (or maybe they didn’t, I don’t have enough data to know whether any of them would’ve cared enough cars to notice.)
10 years after those Olympics, Hyundai was launching our featured car in Korea, the 1998 Grandeur, which was the third generation of the nameplate. And this time they would have a go at doing everything in-house without any help from old Mitsu. This means everything from the 2.5-liter Delta and 3.0-liter Sigma V6 and the five-speed automatic to the design was 100% Hyundai. This also meant that they would be able to export it at their discretion instead of having to go through all the trouble of asking Mitsu.
This one, captured and uploaded to the Cohort by cjcz92,represents the last one in the evolutionary chain of the XG, as it was known outside Korea. The 3.0-liter Sigma was taken out and replaced with its bigger 3.5-liter brother for 194 horsepower and 216 ft-lb. of torque. Better still, this is the “L” version. Don’t let the letter fool you; it doesn’t actually have any extra length like one has come to expect of any car which name ends in L, this is merely a trim package that includes a sunroof, CD changer and various other goodies.
But like those first Hyundais after they were finally allowed to be imported after they were emissions compliant, I’m afraid that the XG350 didn’t quite cut up the mustard in its segment. Nor was it able to schmooze its way in.
Lets take the design for example. Remember my rant about the Kia optima and its design being about as interesting as the plastic used to make a multifunction copier? The XG unfortunately suffers from the same problems. Oh sure, they tried to spice it up with the careful application of a chrome waterfall grille and other tasteful applications of shiny to trigger the bit of the brain that lights up whenever elderly people see a Buick, but I’m afraid that it doesn’t really work. When the contemporary Toyota Avalon somehow manages to look more dynamic, it’s time to read between the lines.
Then we get at the interior. It’s ludicrous to expect that cars at this price point won’t make heavy use of the corporate parts bin on their interiors. People who don’t want the turn-signal stalk from the compact car on their own need not apply here. Unfortunately Hyundai’s parts bin in the late ‘90s was still a bit too cheapy-feeling to compete with other near-luxury vehicles, let alone the likes of Lexus or entry level Audi’s.
The public seemed to agree with me, the XG350 never broke the 20,000 sales mark. Its best year was 2005 when it shifted 17,645 units (Avalon: 95,318) before being replaced with the new generation of the Grandeur, now called Azera. But it seems like the Grandeur/XG/Azera have never really gotten it right. In 2011, Hyundai only sold 1,254 Azera’s. Then again, it seems these days the Genesis does what Azerdon’t.
Oh, and about the Equus that I was talking about at the beginning? Well, remember the second generation Grandeur, the one I didn’t talk about and was still done with help from Mitsu? Hyundai took that platform and stretched to create this, the Hyundai Dynasty. The first in the ultra-luxury Hyundai line that ends with that embassy-endorsed Equus.
That XG350 looks very much like a Lincoln LS.
I totally agree
Also the Grandeur in the fifth picture kinda reminds me of the 1983-86 (Baby) LTD/Marquis
My 2002 XG was most commonly mistaken as a Buick.
I recall a review when these came out that said something like “Want a car that drives and handles like a 1965 Buick? The XG 350 is just the thing.” Pretty snarky weren’t the reviewers!
That Granada is everything the Hyundai’s weren’t. Clean design, devoid of excess ornamentation, dynamic looking, and purposeful. The Hyundai’s look more like parade floats in comparison. I will admit to finding the Granada (as well as the Euro Escort of the era) to be among my favorite designs.
Never thought I’d see the word dynamic and Toyota Avalon in the same sentence.
Squint real hard and the XG looks like a Maybach 57.
hehehe
When these hit the market in the U.K. CAR magazine did a 1 page write-up with a few pictures taken in a semi-darkened room. The author actually poited that these cars would most likely end their lives as “minicabs” but as a quasi-luxury car, they did a decent job acquitting themselves….considering the price point.
BTW, CAR hated Japanese cars with a passion, until the late 80s when some Hondas and the MR2 made them rethink their opinions. When Korean cars came along, they got more respect in a slightly shorter period of time.
I snickered at these when they were new, but there is something about them that makes them appealing as older cars. Nice sized V6, decent size, if only they will hold together. I know that early Hyundais and Kias were best avoided and that the newest designs seem to be holding up well, but I am not sure about these middle children.
Was the Kia Amanti related to these somehow? I am kicking myself for passing on an Amanti in favor of a Taurus when I rented a car some years back. But the Taurus had satellite radio. . . .
Yes the Amanti was related. I recall that Consumer Reports tested one about 11 years ago and declared it the worst handling car they ever tested in recent memory.
Both the Hyundai and Kia variant of these cars just do not seem to hold up to any abuse or time very well judging by examples we see in auctions or sitting behind dealers trying to be offed as wholesale pieces. Rust in weird places like A-pillars, doors that need a crow bar to open with resultant creaks, interiors that do not wear well, engine ticks and noises and lots of little things seem to be the norm and scare us away from buying these two to stick out front as retail.
The jury is still out on there more recent stuff.
Fast Forward to 2016, and Hyundai is in its third year of being the “official vehicle partner” of the GRAMMY awards, so VIPs were picked up at L.A. airports and later deposited on the red carpet in shiny Equus and Genesis sedans (no stretch versions, though). A few months ago I saw a bunch of them getting bathed at my local car wash not too far from LAX.
https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/press-release/hyundai-joins-forces-with-the-recording-academy-to-create-center-sta
http://youtu.be/Tf9V0hwJ6qk
I think of that Simpsons snippet any time I hear someone introduced as “Grammy Award Winning…”
Whoever designed the front clip on that Dynasty needs to be charged with a crime. Of course one must remember that the Hyundai line as a whole had a “weird period” in the late 90’s.
The XG is a work of art by comparison.
The original square version must have been well made because until a few years ago you still saw the odd one on the roads in Korea. I even saw one a couple of weeks ago, in use. That’s really saying something because there is absolutely no nostalgic feeling for anything old here. This is a country where perfectly functioning cars go to the crusher simply because they are out of style and hence, worthless.
The taxation system here doesn’t help, as a severely depreciated luxo-boat can have a negative value, and no market, since people buying used cars can seldom afford the taxes or the 7 buck a gallon fuel.
This is a great boon for the expat community here because decent cars can be had for peanuts. Expats tend to be outside of the social approval loop here anyway. The strange part is people here buy cars to impress their peers, but the vast majority of them will never even see your car, since you A)take the commuter trains to work, or B) it will be parked far and away from any social engagements.
Maybe in the company parking lot if you are fortunate enough to work somewhere where there is one. A good example would be the Corning Precision Materials plant down the road from my university. It’s in a semi-rural area, so people drive there . Not co-incidentally, there is a higher than average mix of high-buck wheels, lots of them European, parked in that lot.
Re the XG itself. A Korean friend of mine bought one brand new and kept it for about 5 years. His was the 2.5 liter tax-beater version, and I found the engine note very unrefined compared to a friend’s Samsung SM520V (think recycled late 90s Infiniti i30), with a Nissan V6. The Hyundai made that same weird burbling sound that a GM 60 degree V6 makes, like suds going down a drain. The Samsung was dead quiet.
Wow, that’s… Very telling of life in Korea. I knew they mimicked the Japanese in a lot of ways, but I never knew that they also did the whole “small is law” and “kill the elders” things with consumer products as well.
As an aside, Samsung makes cars? That’s odd.
Samsungs are rebadged Nissans & Renaults. No export market either, as Carlos Ghosen wouldn’t allow it. Fun fact. During the 2009 carcopalypse
when many major brands died, Roger Penske bought the rights to Saturn and was going to continue it with Samsung-built product. When Ghosen found out, he saw red and killed it. Didn’t want the competition from his own designs.
A mutual friend of both Roger’s and me had a Gen 1 Grandeur with the 3.0 V-6. The car was built like a tank and he was more than happy to pay the absurd road tax (which was W2.4m a year IIRC) to have a free car to drive around. Yes, it was given to him by a client since it was ten years old then, and thus worthless.
When I left Korea in 2004, the SM5 was the best car produced in Korea. It was a very well assembled Nissan Maxima, Samsung having invested in a state of the art factory. My favourite of them all the the 2.0 V-6 which was a sweet runner. A friend had a manual one and it was a lovely car to drive, with plenty of power for any situation real humans might experience. Sadly, when Samsung was forced out of the car business, many saying Hyundai muscled them out. I never really understood why Renault went in with them.
Samsung is still in business as Renault-Samsung. Nissan owns a big chunk of Renault so it’s a good fit. Many JDM Nissans are Renault designed, but built in Japan, which assures their reliablity. They build the SM7 (JDM Nissan Teana),
new SM6 (Renault Talisman, no JDM equivalent) SM3 (Renault Fluence, also no JDM equivalent) and a couple of Renault designed crossovers.
They seem to have a good rep here in spite of being Renault-based.’
I actually seriously considered one but bought a Cruze instead.
Nothing against Hyundai or Kia, I just can’t see myself in one.
…”Nissan owns a big chunk of Renault”…
It’s actually the other way around, if this information I found is correct:
“Renault currently has a 43.4 percent (fully voting) stake in Nissan, and Nissan holds a 15 percent (non-voting) stake in Renault effectively giving Renault control”.
Wasn’t Nissan almost bankrupt before Renault joined the club ?
Oops, got it backwards, I knew it was one or the other
Honest John, a UK website considers the XG a better car than the last Granada/Scorpios and likes the plush ride. As to Car magazine, their views on Japanese cars was incredibly narrow-minded. I used to dismiss them but these days I relish their approach and after tiring of the monopoly of European good taste I enjoy the chrome and “fussy” details. The XG is a charming car if you allow for design outside the frame of reference of Audi and the others, good as it often is.
I don’t love the looks of these, but I can’t say it’s worse than the final Granada/Scorpio. Still, considering the depreciation involved makes me a little light-headed.
http://www.encar.com/dc/dc_carsearchlist.do?carType=kor&searchType=model&wtClick_index=011#!{%22action%22%3A%22%28And.Hidden.N._.%28C.CarType.Y._.%28C.Manufacturer.%ED%98%84%EB%8C%80._.%28C.ModelGroup.%EA%B7%B8%EB%9E%9C%EC%A0%80._.Model.%EB%89%B4%20%EA%B7%B8%EB%9E%9C%EC%A0%80%20XG.%29%29%29%29%22%2C%22toggle%22%3A{}%2C%22layer%22%3A%22%22%2C%22sort%22%3A%22ModifiedDate%22%2C%22page%22%3A1%2C%22limit%22%3A20}
No depreciation now. $2000 US buys a nice one in Korea. My friend paid 30 million won for his brand new!
Well, they’re now depreciated about as much as they’re going to get. I meant more in the context of buying a new one in the U.K., where short-term depreciation tends to be particularly severe.
I thought the XG was the best-looking thing out of Hyundai since Giugiaro’s Pony. This is the first Hyundai I ever looked at twice – a cohesive, attractive shape on the road and parked. It’s actually a nice blend of curvature and proportioning; the Audi is mentioned above as an influence but at that point Audi were top of the prestige shapes – so good choice on the part of the XG product developers. It’s also different enough, but way understated. Maybe it didn’t drive as well as the Euros, but for me this car marks the threshold of Hyundai’s transition to where they are today.
Great piece Gerardo. I love the Debonair pic. AMG… hehehe
The first generation Debonair was, bizarrely, offered new in New Zealand. No I don’t know why, and no, hardly anyone bought one. Not long since I last saw one, and they’re seriously worse looking in the metal…
Anyway, back to the ‘dai. Like Don, I quite like the XG’s styling – well the exterior anyway, the interior is a bit meh.
I must admit the XG has always reminded me strongly of the gen2 Mitsubishi Diamante. I know the XG’s meant to be an in-house Hyundai effort, but the styling, size and engineering are mighty close. The XG interior shot shows a Diamante gear lever too. Was there perhaps more Mitsubishi DNA under the skin than either manufacturer cared to admit? #conspiracytheory
I should note that the 1986 Debonair (whose chassis code I don’t remember and can’t be bothered to look up right now) was not the first one. The original Debonair was introduced at least 15 years before that and continued to be sold with minor updates until the ’86 model debuted. The early ones had a 2-liter engine, which I imagine was desperately underpowered, but by the late ’70s the 2.6-liter balance shaft engine was standard.
was going to post the exact same thing. The glasshouse looks identical.
perhaps they made a slight change to the rear door window line
I actually looked at one of these a couple of years ago when I was getting rid of my caravan and wanted something with a bit more luxury. I don’t remember the year, but was quite happy with the ride and performance. the only thing that put me off it was for those of us that are a “bit broad of beam” there was only 2 choices for your left knee. wedge it in the door panel and hope you weren’t cutting off circulation to the rest of your leg or give it space and put the console where consoles were not meant to be put!
Enjoyable post. I spent some time in Korea in the early to mid-80s just as their auto industry was taking its first steps post foreign help. Mitsubishi had a long joint venture interest with Hyundai – it might have extended to their other business also; finance, shipbuilding, etc. Kia, then separate from Hyundai, was tied up with Mazda – and sold versions of the 929 and others. I clearly remember going to several dealerships in the Kwang-Ju area and seeing drip pans under all the cars – they were all leaking fluids, straight from the factory. So I have real admiration for how far the Korea manufacturers have come.
I find the previous Gen 2 model below based off the Mitsubishi platform and design much more modern and balanced than this Gen 3 version designed solely by Hyundai
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i’ll +6 or whatever it’s up to in the count of those favoring at least the design of the XG. i remember seeing one in motion on an overcast and rainy day, the water beading on its silver paint. always thought these were classy looking especially from a rear 3/4 view with the U shaped license trim instead of the straight chrome bar on later models. the only knock i have is the grill and headlamps being a little too aggressive and at odds with the tasteful refinement of the rest of the car. from a time not too long ago when a car looked like a car.
I think that by 1988 Hyundai was already making the second generation of it’s own rebodied Cortina, with Hyundai design and badges, the new Stellar, the first Sonata!
http://ripituc.blogspot.cl/2012/08/korean-hyundai-sonata-ad-for-seoul-1988.html
They did an excellent job with that. Got any pictures of the Hyundai Granada?
The Hyundai Granada is completely identical to the European Granada.
Except that they were all black.
Kill me now…I like this car. It didn’t match the Japanese or Europeans, but in many ways it was better than the domestics. The styling was a tad frumpy, but the car was comfortable and did as asked so long as you didn’t push it. Hyundai also didn’t really promote the car like they could/should have.
P.S. – it was better looking than the Amanti…
People who don’t want the turn-signal stalk from the compact car on their own need not apply here.
Still not at GM either, I noticed in my automotive ADD. From the Chevy Spark to Cadillac XTS to Opel Corsa via GMC Terrain to Holden Commodore, they all use the same parts bin. Even when the quality level of the lower-rung models has now been significantly raised, differentiation is still too expensive somehow.
I test drove one of these in near-new condition a few years ago. It was excellent all around with one exception: that thing would dive going into corners like nothing I’ve ever seen.
“Take a turn at ten miles per the hour and witness the amazing rubbing sounds of the wheels in the wells! Do a panic stop and enjoy a car doing a front flip! Amaze/horrify your friends and loved ones!”
You can drive a soft sprung car from any decade thrice as hard and never think about.
Proud owner of one! They’re rare over here (40 or so left) and I got a great deal! 2700 bucks for a car equal to Audi or Merc in terms of equipment, and in my experience very reliable. I especially love its American driving characteristics, very floaty and almost no road feel. Still as happy as can be!
Brilliant! I hope you get loads of miles under its wheels. I have seen two of these in my life and won´t forget them. They are comfy, safe, spacious and well-equipped and if you don´t break the speed limits and want to get about in a relaxed way, they work as well as a Jaguar or Cadillac but with much less trouble.
…and so they copied, not very well, the Volvo 760.
We bought a new XG350 in 2005. My wife used it for her business and put 120,000 miles on it only needing brakes at 100 K, tires at 60 K, and many oil changes plus a timing belt. We gave the car to our daughter who drove it for a few more years, trouble free.
Lovely car. Best $24,000 we ever spent on a vehicle.
I know this is an old repost, so probably not the liveliest discussion chances, but this view seemed overly negative on the XG. It was no world beater, but it was the first Hyundai-Kia product that really felt like a fully developed car. They aren’t fun to drive at all, but they offer quite a bit of waft-ability for their original price. The quality was entirely decent, with a surprising number of examples still around despite their low sales numbers and steep depreciation. Their looks generally came across as anodyne but handsome, similar to the concurrent Elantra. And like the Elantra, they proved to be fairly ruggedly constructed in a mid-90s Asian sort of way, requiring valve lash adjustments and timing belts and specific transmission fluid, services that often went neglected leading to disposal. And again, that depreciation. Aside from the airbag control unit often seeing early failure, they really don’t have a major mechanical Achilles heel, just higher running costs than cars hitting the market around the same time with 5 year newer technology. The Kia rebody was ghastly, but very in the vein of the similarly ungainly stuff coming from some Ford, GM and Chrysler divisions at the time.
This is also a very heavily Mitsubishi-influenced car, mostly based on the 2nd gen Diamante/Magna/Verada, which explains why the mechanicals seem very 1996. A reworked body, technically redesigned engine and platform, and a heavily softened suspension tune to excise any sporting character from an already fairly unsporty car (excepting, of course, some wilder AUS trims of the Verada). Frameless windows, FTW.
Yes, the wood is plastic and the leather is, too, but transport back in time and cross-shop this with an Accord LX V6, Camry LE V6, or base Lesabre or Bonneville or Impala with their cheap, ugly cloth and vinyl interiors, and the feature-rich, decently-built Hyundai started to look a little different than the article lets on. Much more Japanese-feeling than the previous-generation H-K products and domestics. The Avalon or ES or TL were more logical choices for more money, and more closely competitive with the XG’s mission of near-luxury, but cost $10-15k more for a similar feature set, better overall quality and materials, and better name recognition, value retention and dealer experiences.
The follow-up Azera was even better, and fully a competitive car in mechanical quality, with a decent but not great interior (Toyota interiors took a big dip in quality around this time, roughly meeting Hyundai in the gap), and less generic fastback-ish styling and a neat, huge LED tail lamp panel. The current and last-gen Grandeurs still available in Korea (after the final Azera kinda flubbing the Fluidic Sculpture design language that was successful everywhere else in the range) have become rather compelling looking modern luxury sedans, but after rejecting the Fluidic Bloat 2g Azera, and proving we didn’t want similar sedans from the related Cadenza to most 4 doors from all other brands, we are missing out in the US.
Still see a gray Camry, (late 80’s boxy version) riding round here from time to time. Must have a garage to stay in. Looks relatively good.
My aunt has a 2004 XG350L that her and my uncle brought brand new, My uncle was in his late 80’s at the time. Why did they buy it? He thought it looked just like my 2001 Lincoln LS for so much less money. When I asked him if he thought it was a good car for a Hyundai, he told me, “It’s made by Honda so of course it’s good.”
My uncle passed away about 5 years ago, at the age of 100. My aunt still owns the car, which has approximately 44K miles on it. I have the responsibility of taking car of the repairs as needed, as well as the general maintenance. The hard part is trying to explain to a 95 year old woman that even though you only put a 150 miles on the car in the last year, it still needs an oil change and even though the tires have tons of tread, they are most likely dry rotted. Harder still, is trying to convince her that she shouldn’t be driving at her age.
The car still looks good, has no rust, but just some minor dings, But it’s deteriorating from non use and sitting. . Over the years, it’s had its share of electric issues, leaks, dry rot tires, cracked leather….but nothing to serious.
Funny thing is, there’s a few of these cars still driving around my neighborhood in as good of shape as my aunts, by people in her age group.
That first Grandeur has the indefinable look of one on Lee ‘Iakkoka’s’ endless K-car permutations, combinations and derivatives. I’m sure it’s not, but it could sure pass for one.