This Hyundai Stellar was purchased as a parts donor for my Locost Seven roadster project, but it is an interesting enough car that I think it deserves its own COAL post.
The Hyundai Stellar story has to start with the Ford Cortina. In fact, the entire Hyundai Motor Company story has to start with the Ford Cortina. Hyundai got its start building license built copies of the Mk II Cortina as well as the Taunus, and license built Fords were built right into the mid-1970s.
The Pony was Hyundai’s first car they could rightfully call their own. It used Mitsubishi engines and transmissions as well as a chassis design inspired by either the Mitsubishi Lancer, the Morris Marina or the Ford Cortina, depending on which version of the story you believe. It was a conventional rear-wheel-drive design with struts up front and a leaf-sprung live rear axle out back. Canada saw a variant of the second generation Pony starting in 1984.
The Ford-licensed cars were eventually phased out, so Hyundai found themselves without a larger car to sell. The solution they came up with was largely based off a vehicle they were already familiar with, the MkIV Ford Cortina. The chassis of these first-generation Stellars is all Cortina, but for the engines, Hyundai looked again to Mitsubishi. The 1.4L 4G33 and 1.6L 4G32 motors found in the Pony were now fitted as base engines for the Stellar. Buyers could choose from either a five-speed manual or a three-speed BorgWarner automatic transmission. Those desiring a bit more oomph could opt for the larger 2.0L 4G63 inline four cylinder engine. The styling, like the Pony, was done by Giorgetto Giugiaro.
My Stellar was a GSL, meaning such luxuries as power windows, full instrumentation, power locks and upgraded audio were fitted.
It was equipped with the 1.6L four cylinder engine, the base motor in Canada, which was hooked to a Mitsubishi KM119 five-speed manual gearbox. North American buyers could have also found this same basic engine in various Mitsubishis, as well as in Dodge Colts and base model Plymouth Arrows. It could also be found in turbocharged form (but not in the Stellar).
A shot from the rear next to my Rx-7: the wheels were the same thirteen-inch steel rims fitted to the Pony. They still used a British Ford 4x108mm bolt pattern.
The Stellar was actually in reasonably solid shape with only some front fender rust appearing. Quite remarkable given that these were enthusiastic rusters.
I didn’t have an engine crane at the time but needed to extract the drive train and dispose of the shell, so I placed a stand underneath the engine and cut away the rest of the car.
Rear suspension out and the roof comes off.
I went through quite a few reciprocating saw blades.
The engine free at last. Stellar no more. I wound up going another direction for the Locost Seven project and ultimately used very little of this Stellar. So my apologies to any Hyundai Stellar fans out there.
While that was the end of my Stellar, the story for the model doesn’t quite end there. A Stellar II or Stellar 2.0 depending on the market was introduced in 1987. The Cortina double wishbone front suspension was replaced by a MacPherson strut design, along with updated brakes. For Canada, this updated version was now only available with the larger 2.0L engine. Flush headlights and a new grill modernized the front styling a tad.
At the rear, tail light lenses but were upgraded with a new, but still familiar, look. The Sonata nameplate appeared on this car for the Korean domestic market. The front-wheel-drive Sonata replaced the Stellar in 1992 for the Canadian market and we’d have to wait until the unveiling of the Genesis for another rear-drive Hyundai to make the trip over to North America.
Related reading: Hyundai Origin Myth Revealed
Wow, that Saturn motor is a dead ringer to the one in my parents old 1977 Galant right down to the black oil filler cap!
It’s a very long time since I saw a Stellar,the rust monster saw off most of them in the UK
You know David, hindsight is 20/20 and all that,…but you could still be driving that Hyundai Stellar today. Saw one on the road last week. Tin worm looked easily repairable. Kinda of a shame you saw all’d it to death. Just my 2 bits worth.
I bet you are correct.
I enjoy your eclectic COALs David. The Stellar and Pony were very popular in Canada when introduced. You could almost say wildly popular, as they were everywhere. Giugiaro did a nice job styling them, and the interiors were well done. Plus the price was nice. But they rusted as bad or worse than early 70s Fords. Hard to recall two models disappearing so quickly. Shame, as they were good looking cars for the era. Luckily for Hyundai, these cars are largely forgotten today.
The Pony in particular was everywhere. I didn’t like them when they were new but I do like the ones that have surived the odds to still exist today.
The Pony was very popular because it was cheap. I remember seeing them advertised for $5499.00 in 1986, which was a couple of grand cheaper than a similarly equipped Japanese sedan. Big money at the time.
Unfortunately buyers soon found that initial price is only part of the story. The cars did not hold up well and parts such as carburettors and alternators were shockingly expensive, often beyond the means of the owner who thought they were getting “new car” reliability at a price they could afford. The cars often expired shortly after the warranty. Lots of Ponys ended up junked just a few years old, and I’ve always marvelled at how well Hyundai recovered their reputation.
One of my employees had a late ’80s Stellar, and it served him very well. When the clutch gave up several thousand kms beyond the warranty period Hyundai Canada was quick to come to the table with parts at no cost. He changed the clutch at one of our shops on a Saturday and drove the car for several more years. True to type, rust finally got it.
Interesting way to pull an engine and solve the carcass disposal problem all in one!
I remember seeing various Ponys with red primer camouflage due to the rust. Something, I hadn’t commonly seen on relatively new cars since the 70s.
The Pony was really a hit and miss thing. Some of them were good, most of them were awful. The real problem was traditional Korean corruption in the parts suppliers, who routinely cheapened out specs to make extra profit. In essence, the supplier is ripping off Hyundai. However, the inspector at Hyundai is paid off by said supplier, so all is well. If cars crap out, well, touch kimchi.
The biggest offender was a supplier called Mando, which controlled 90% of all the parts in the Korean cheabol system. The company was huge and had the car companies by the short and curlies, when they were really trying to improve the product with designs like the 1996 Elantra, which was a huge leap for Hyundai.
The economic meltdown on 1997 gave the newly incoming left wing government the opportunity to break Mando up. From that time, Koreans could buy parts from anyone. Now many of their parts are from abroad. Bosch, for example,does a lot of work in Korea.
Interesting. I’d never heard that before. Makes sense because as you say some of them were really good but most were crap.
I feel bad saying this about a car, but I don’t think you could’ve found a better car to strip for parts. I’m not saying that cars can’t be practical and boring, but I have a hard time finding much positive to see in these early Hyundais with their many various sources of origin of underpinnings.
Pretty sure it would have been worth renting/purchasing an engine hoist.
Yes it would have. I own one now.
That Stellar is in very good shape for its age. I haven’t seen one here in Ontario in a long time – nice looking cars, but most of them rusted out quickly. I used to work with someone who had a Stellar of about the same vintage. He drove it until 1996, but by then it had a lot of rust and one of the headlights was held in place with electrical tape. It still ran all right, though. He traded it for a new Corolla.
My rule with Hyundai: 90’s or older, run as fast as your car or feet will allow. Even in CC Eugene old Hyundais, 80’s especially, are very rare.
Coming out of an old AMC Concorde, my ex-father-in-law bought a brand new 1987 Stellar II with a manual. Surprisingly he had really good service out of that car…unlike the 1985 Pony he had bought 2 years earlier…Living in Ottawa, Ontario, The biggest problem as mentioned in the story was the rust…Man, did it rust! He ended up trading it on a newly re-designed 1995 Cavalier!
Wow, that’s quite the chop shop you had there in the garage! How’d you get rid of the “body” after dismembering it? Little bits in the garbage every week or is it rolled up in a plastic tarp in the basement for someone to find later “He was always such a quiet neighbor. Who knew?” I too wonder if the total cost of Sawzall blades were more than the rental cost for an engine hoist. If nothing else, that was certainly ambitious (and successful), where there’s a will, there’s a way I suppose.
I tossed the chunked up bits into family minivan and recycled them at the scrap metal depot. I probably did use more cutting blades than the cost of a hoist rental. Never said it was the right way to do it!
I knew a couple that bought a used Stellar in Halifax when they were both going to university there. It was rusted pretty bad when they bought it but as they were both from Vancouver they made at least 4 return cross country marathon trips with it….no problems.
The Pony and Stellar were very popular in Soviet Canuckistan due to our weak Peso of the time. I remember the Pony being advertised at $3998, a good $1500 cheaper than anything on the market. The cars were totally hit and miss: some were good, most were not.
I was never a fan of the Stellar, although they were really big with the blue-rinse set. The biggest problem with the Stellar was its lack of power steering. It was very hard to steer the car even in traffic and parking was very hard. A friend’s mom had one and it she could barely drive it. Her son would help her turn the wheel for parking!
While cheap, these cars were really not worth it since they wouldn’t last longer than five years at the very most.
My grandfather had a red 1987 Stellar CXL like the dark gray one. He previously had a 1985 Pony. He got the Pony in exchange with his like-new 1977 Continental and his 1982 Chevette and he really liked it. My aunt who got it from him didn’t like it as much as it got older but she’s been buying Hyundai vehicles ever since. My grandfather kept the Stellar until 1992 when he sold it to another of my aunts and he bought a Sonata that was made at the Bromont plant here in Quebec.
Hyundais from this era had a different kind of smell inside from a Japanese or American car. I asked someone about this once and he said it was because in Korea they used animal-based adhesives. I have always wondered if anyone else noticed this smell or if the explanation was true.
I drove a Canadian RWD Stellar once, maybe one generation older than yours David. I remember it felt quite stout. The seat material was like carpeting.
I’ve noticed a different, “fishy” smell, but I know very little about polymer or adhesive production. If that’s true, then it’s certainly interesting.
The adhesive material was described to me as being akin to horse glue and could be found in places like under the carpeting if I recall correctly.
New Hyundais of that era had another interesting smell. When built, the underside was sprayed with cosmoline as a rust preventative during shipping to the US. Some would get on the exhaust pipe, then burn off when the car was driven. I tried out an Accent in 99 and got a good whiff of if: smelled about like burning tennis shoes.
I was driving that Accent in warm weather and had the windows open, so did not notice an unusual interior smell, but I have seen other people commenting on it.
Rotting horse meat has a fishy smell. (Don’t ask me how I know).
That supports the horse glue theory. Maybe that’s why they called it the Pony.
After all those years, i actually sort of like it. Sort of.
Of course, as with the original Pony, the Stellar never made it into the U.S. because of emissions standards. So over here our first large Hyundai was the (generation Y2) Sonata.
A neigbours partner got given a Stellar it broke down and got towed home and eventually got towed for scrap, they are quite a rare sighting nowdays in Aotearoa though a Pony parks nearby some days, Handy to know they have the same wheel stud pattern as my Hillman though 13” wheels wont fit mine I run 15” Peugeot Michelins
I deeply admire and respect how far the Hyundai/Kia vehicles have come in such a relatively short period. I purchased a new 2011 Kia Forte LX manuaul. I purchased it due to low price, 6-speed manual was actually available on the lot for purchase m(manuals are getting VERY, VERY difficult to find), and long list of standard equipment. The car has performed perfectly over 60k miles, returns excellent fuel economy, and has been entirely trouble free–save a TPI warning light that flickers on occasionally. I wouldn’t have considered a Korean made car based on the track record of the earlier imports. I took a chance in 2011, and am very glad I did.
Another (reasonably) happy Kia owner here–I’ve got a 2012 Forte Koup EX with the 6-speed auto. Closing in fast on 30K and absolutely zero problems to report. I do wish the interior was higher quality, and the engine note is a little buzzy/drone-y, but no complaints other than that, and it’s quite a good-looking car in Corsa Blue with gunmetal alloys. It’s not really a driver’s car, but my wife drives it more than I do and she’s happy with it, plus the fuel economy is good.
As to these Stellars, they’re always interesting to me since we didn’t have the Stellar or the Pony in the USA. First Hyundai we had was the Excel in (I think) ’86, and at the time its big selling point was a base price of $4999. Probably very few got out the door at that price, but it was still the cheapest car on the market save for maybe the Yugo GV, and as craptastic as the Excel turned out to be I’d take it over a Yugo! Very forgettable cars that have almost entirely disappeared years ago. And yes, the grille is identical to that of the Stellar, though maybe a tad narrower. Interesting. Typical Giugiaro early 80’s styling on the Stellar, clean but I don’t know if I’d say it aged well. The Series II you posted looks much more attractive.
Funny, how the Stellar has the SAME nose (grille, lights, side markers and all) as the 1986 Hyundai Excel… the 1st Hyundai to debut and sell in the US.
I think the next gen Stellar you showed is trying to imitate a 2nd gen Mazda 626(1983-87). Looks like an 86-87… down to the headlights, wheel covers and rear tail lights.
The Mazda was an ALOT better driver’s car… I had 5, including an 86 GT Turbo coupe… had ALOTTA fun eating an occasional Lincoln LSC, Mustang GT or Iroc, as a snack. LMAO
I’ve always thought the Eagle Premier looked even more similar
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/junkyard/junkyard-classic-1989-ealge-premier-es-limited/
No surprise to see parts recycled again and again thats smart the motor in the 97 rentadent Accent I hired looked like a Mitsu cyclone dont care that car went really well I caned it across hwy 5 at our open road speed limit and it was ok not the worst car on that road by far. Hyundai and other Korean makers have learned fast their cars are quite well screwed together now. I dont know if they used the Marina as a startup but the dies and plans for the Morris Ital were sold or given to Chinese interests the Ital being a facelifted Marina, anybody know if they dumped it at sea or tried making one?
If they had any sense the Ital would have been dumped at sea.Proof again you can’t polish a turd
Interesting article DS, I’d always figured the Stellar was just a stretched Pony. Didn’t know it had almost completely different DNA.
Stellars seemed to hold off the rust monster longer than Ponys (Ponies?) but the Mitsubishi drivetrain components were the only good thing about either..
These replaced the Australian Holdens, Valiants and Ford Falcons as the taxi of choice in Barbados in the mid-late ’80s CAR Magazine in the UK also said they made great mini-cabs (though for all the wrong reasons) just like their Cortina forebears. I drove a couple of them, one of them was an ex-rental car with a cracked instrument panel, on which half the engine seemed to shut down when the air conditioning was turned on. It was a very roomy car, but seemed underpowered in 1600 cc format, the 2-liter version (sold here as the Stellar Prima) always made more sense (that was their advertising slogan back then, too, remember?) and was a rival to the Toyota Cressida and Nissan Laurel in this market. Not many around today and it’s always refreshing to see them, especially those that have been well maintained. Hyundai has truly come a long way in the last 25-30 years.
I think the Pony was one of the last cars that still had ignition points. Last year, I saw what appeared to be a mint condition Pony with factory A/C for sale locally. It must have been well hidden as I haven’t seen one on the road in the last few years! I don’t recall ever seeing a Pony with A/C either!
A coworker of mine had a 1984 Stellar that was in relatively good condition. It had been hit in the rear and the whole trunk was bent down on one side like it often did on late eighties Chevy Cavaliers and Pontiac Sunbirds that had been hit in the rear but otherwise, his Stellar was in good condition. I was surprised to see him still driving the car many years later. That was around year 2000-2001!
I think these cars, while not very good were probably better than the FWD Excel that was powered by an oil-burning Mitsubishi engine and also had a weak automatic transmission…
For an American these RWD Hyundais are exotic (ie unusual) although I recall my niece in Ontario had a red Pony as her first car, in the early ’90’s. As for how far the Korean cars have come, I’d point out that it’s been nearly 30 years. The Honda 600 was considered a joke in 1970, and the early Corona, not much better, but 15 years later Accords and Camrys were ubiquitous. Granted, the Honda was a more innovative, well-engineered car but that didn’t help public perception. So after 30 years the Koreans should be able to design and build a decent car, though that’s easy for me to say as I’ve never owned and in fact never driven a Korean car, though I have succumbed to buying some Korean tires …. not to mention a few Korean TV’s.