The ‘Korean Cortina’ Joseph, little did we know what a big player Hyundai would become globally. A great part of their history and a really enjoyable video!
I am surprised that they don't have one of these in the Hyundai UK heritage fleet, sir! Thank you ever so much indeed once again for watching and commenting.
A friend of my dad had one of these back in the day. He was laughed at but the car never let him down and it made me take the Korean stuff a lot more seriously back in the 1980s - these certainly were not just the next wave of cheap Lada/Skods type things, it was obvious from day one. Although my abiding memory of it was the gearshift, which was like a bus with its comedy throw length (a feature they were still doing to some extent with the Accent years later!).
Yes, very different from the Ladas and Skodas, as the platform was a solid, proven, well known Western one. I have just been informed by the owner that the heavy steering was mainly due to uneven tyre pressures... We should have a Mark V Cortina coming up on the channel soon as well for the sake of comparison.
@@lloydvehicleconsulting To be fair the FIAT 124 was also a proven western platform, of a similar age to the Mk3 Cortina as well. I think the difference with the Korean stuff was the relatively modern Mitsubishi drivetrains - at the time some of the most solid and reliable on the market. But either way, some minor build quality issues aside the Hyundais were always good cars.
My dad had an 89 GSL, so this is a trip down memory lane! It was a great car. Electric windows at the back was a big deal… though in about 96 I was doing the whole ‘window goes up, window goes down’ and it got stuck. Dad wasn’t happy!
Well, it's just amazing that car survived anyhow. Old Hyundais, Kias and Daewoos never lasted longer than 5 to 6 years without serious rust issues. Nice exterior and interior for its time too.
Yes, we have had lots of older Daewoos, Hyundais and Kias on this channel now. The rarity of a car like this is unbelievable. Thank you ever so much indeed for watching and commenting!
This was a trippy review for me because my parents had a 1979 Mitsubishi Galant Sigma 1.6, and a 1982 Ford Cortina MK5 1.6L , which they acquired brand new and keep into the 90s. I myself was born in 1982, so both cars were the family rides of my youth, and the cars in which I learned to drive To see that Hyundai developed this Stellar model with the underpinnings of the Cortina, and essentially the engine of the Galant, is truly a mash-up I never thought existed, given the massive differences in the origins of both cars, and the engineering they employed.
Well, I think we can most certainly help out your nostalgia again soon, since I have a Mark V Cortina 1.6 coming up on Sensible Secondhand Classics at some point soon... Hyundai made a car which was quite different from the Mark V Cortina in many ways. The steering is much lighter in the Cortina for some reason.
What an amazing survivor Sir & extremely well equipped for 1986. Brilliant that Alex is preserving & using such an amazing car. A work colleague had a C reg silver Stellar, very reliable, not as posh as this one, but it had headlamp washers. These were used a lot as Taxi’s, testament to their reliability.
Yes, the Mitsubishi engines are quite strong. The biggest problems are rust and spare parts availability, but this one is still going! This was the highest specification Stellar in 1986.
Thank you for this video! These were sold in New Zealand although at the time Korean cars were thought of as an interesting curiosity and took a while to catch on.
My neighbour had one exactly like this. Same color. It was a car I admired and I do not know why it appealed to me but it did. When it was over 10 years old he parked it up with some problems and the intention of fixing them, but he never got round to it. For the next 3 years I watched it rust into the ground on his driveway. Kind of sad really. They had no value back then, this was over 20 years ago. He eventually scrapped it and I have not seen another Stellar on UK roads since!
They are extremely rare cars. I was extremely blessed to have been offered the chance to drive this one! As you say, the rust killed the majority of these, as they were not really very valuable for a really long time, so it was not worth keeping them on the road. Thank you very much indeed for watching or commenting!
Fantastic! I`ve seen many photos of this car on Alex`s Flickr and facebook accounts. The Mazda and Yugo as well. The magazine advert for the early Stellars read: “We saw the replacement of the Ford Cortina in a different mould". At the bottom of of the page was a photo of a Stellar and at the top was an image of what looks like a Ford Sierra in the style of an actual Jelly Mould. Quite clever bit of advertising I thought. 😄
Yes, it probably worked, as the Stellar sold to the sort of people who thought that the Sierra's design was too radical. The Mazda and Yugo have already been on the channel, although the Yugo has now been featured twice.
It's great to see cars as rare as this up so close. It reminds me of the Isuzu Aska from 1986/ 87. Such a pity machines like this were overlooked in that era. As ever an excellent review Sir!
Wonderful to see one of these again and original. Remember that value for money was a large selling point back in the day. Well done sir excellent as always.
Great review, I own the last surviving roadworthy 2.0 Stellar Prima here in New Zealand, and just love it to drive it as its always a talking point wherever I go. Interesting to see the differences between the 1.6 to the 2.0lt, and my word the 2.0 is the best model they made, it keeps up with modern traffic, and its power steering and aircon is as good as my wifes modern car
Yes, the 2.0 would have been the one to buy back in the day, as the steering was very heavy on this 1.6, and I could have done with some air conditioning! Thank you very much indeed for watching and commenting.
A excellent review Sir and what a survivor, only other ones i knew about where the Hubnut test drives and one from the slightly sweary youtube channel up here in Scotland.
I had a metallic brown one back in the day. My local Hyundai dealer at the time, Charles Jenkins & Sons, had a display model in the showroom. It was white with red gold-faster stripes and TURBO in red lettering along the bottom of the doors. As to what the power plant was at the time, I have no idea.
It's very strange, as far as I know, these were not available officially with a Turbo. However, the 4G63 engine in the 2.0 Stellar was available with a Turbo in a great deal of other cars.
The Hyundai Stellar 1.6 GSL was very well specified compared to a late Mk5 Cortina or indeed a Mk2 Cavalier. The equivalent Ford or Vauxhall would be 4 Speed, have no rev counter, no wheel trims, certainly no headlight washers, very plain interior, very basic AM/FM radio, narrow tyres. Great value for money with the Stellar then and reliable powertrains. The Cavalier though would be more powerful and handle supremely better. Given the choice of all three I would pick the Stellar every time. The old Korean Gentleman would be preaching to converted.
We have a 1982 Mark V Cortina 1.6 GL coming up on the channel soon, sir! I do hope that you enjoy it too. This Hyundai does have a lot more equipment than the Cortina.
So good to see the Stellar here! I test drove the same model in 1984. I was driving a Mk3 Cortina at the time and they felt very similar to drive. Only got to drive it round Dartford in Kent and the on some B roads, remember it being wallowy and leaning quite a lot. I stayed with my Mk3 in the end. Loved the look of the Stellar, but it did feel just like a re-clothed Cortina to drive.
Well, we have a Mark V Cortina coming up soon as well, which I filmed earlier this week! They do feel broadly similar to drive (unsurprisingly), but the two 1.6 engines (in this case the Mitsubishi, and of course the Pinto in the case of the Ford) are quite different in character. Thank you very much indeed for watching and commenting!
Oh Sir ! You've excelled with this one . I wanted a Stellar after seeing it at the 1988 motorshow. Squint and it becomes a Maserati !
The 2.0 models were rather agreeable indeed, weren't they?
Wonderful. Just like my dad and brother had from new. Very reliable and stylish.
Extremely rare cars, I was extremely blessed to have had a go in this! Thank you ever so much indeed for watching and commenting.
The ‘Korean Cortina’ Joseph, little did we know what a big player Hyundai would become globally. A great part of their history and a really enjoyable video!
I am surprised that they don't have one of these in the Hyundai UK heritage fleet, sir! Thank you ever so much indeed once again for watching and commenting.
My brother had one when they first came out. It was decent enough.
They sold particularly well in my home town to taxi drivers.
Oh yes, very popular as taxis, I would imagine. Exceptionally rare now. Thank you ever so much indeed for watching and commenting!
A friend of my dad had one of these back in the day. He was laughed at but the car never let him down and it made me take the Korean stuff a lot more seriously back in the 1980s - these certainly were not just the next wave of cheap Lada/Skods type things, it was obvious from day one. Although my abiding memory of it was the gearshift, which was like a bus with its comedy throw length (a feature they were still doing to some extent with the Accent years later!).
Yes, very different from the Ladas and Skodas, as the platform was a solid, proven, well known Western one. I have just been informed by the owner that the heavy steering was mainly due to uneven tyre pressures... We should have a Mark V Cortina coming up on the channel soon as well for the sake of comparison.
@@lloydvehicleconsulting To be fair the FIAT 124 was also a proven western platform, of a similar age to the Mk3 Cortina as well. I think the difference with the Korean stuff was the relatively modern Mitsubishi drivetrains - at the time some of the most solid and reliable on the market. But either way, some minor build quality issues aside the Hyundais were always good cars.
@@jasejj , yes, the Mitsubishi engines in these were used in a lot of other cars too, and they tended to be very dependable.
My dad had an 89 GSL, so this is a trip down memory lane! It was a great car. Electric windows at the back was a big deal… though in about 96 I was doing the whole ‘window goes up, window goes down’ and it got stuck. Dad wasn’t happy!
I imagine that must have been a bit frustrating for your father! Thank you very much indeed for watching and commenting.
Well, it's just amazing that car survived anyhow. Old Hyundais, Kias and Daewoos never lasted longer than 5 to 6 years without serious rust issues. Nice exterior and interior for its time too.
Yes, we have had lots of older Daewoos, Hyundais and Kias on this channel now. The rarity of a car like this is unbelievable. Thank you ever so much indeed for watching and commenting!
This was a trippy review for me because my parents had a 1979 Mitsubishi Galant Sigma 1.6, and a 1982 Ford Cortina MK5 1.6L , which they acquired brand new and keep into the 90s. I myself was born in 1982, so both cars were the family rides of my youth, and the cars in which I learned to drive To see that Hyundai developed this Stellar model with the underpinnings of the Cortina, and essentially the engine of the Galant, is truly a mash-up I never thought existed, given the massive differences in the origins of both cars, and the engineering they employed.
Well, I think we can most certainly help out your nostalgia again soon, since I have a Mark V Cortina 1.6 coming up on Sensible Secondhand Classics at some point soon... Hyundai made a car which was quite different from the Mark V Cortina in many ways. The steering is much lighter in the Cortina for some reason.
What an amazing survivor Sir & extremely well equipped for 1986. Brilliant that Alex is preserving & using such an amazing car. A work colleague had a C reg silver Stellar, very reliable, not as posh as this one, but it had headlamp washers. These were used a lot as Taxi’s, testament to their reliability.
Yes, the Mitsubishi engines are quite strong. The biggest problems are rust and spare parts availability, but this one is still going! This was the highest specification Stellar in 1986.
I remember in the late 1980s that the majority of taxis in my town were the Hyundai Stellar, and more popular than private cars.
They were sort of the perennial minicabs back in the day, weren't they? Thank you ever so much indeed for watching and commenting.
Swindon by any chance?
Thank you for this video! These were sold in New Zealand although at the time Korean cars were thought of as an interesting curiosity and took a while to catch on.
Yes, they weren't necessarily that popular over here either!
Excellent review, quite a handsome design, it would look very smart in a dark metallic green with a beige leather interior with wood.
Sir, maybe those 2.0 models had that option, but I have never seen one, so we will never know.
My neighbour had one exactly like this. Same color. It was a car I admired and I do not know why it appealed to me but it did. When it was over 10 years old he parked it up with some problems and the intention of fixing them, but he never got round to it. For the next 3 years I watched it rust into the ground on his driveway. Kind of sad really. They had no value back then, this was over 20 years ago. He eventually scrapped it and I have not seen another Stellar on UK roads since!
They are extremely rare cars. I was extremely blessed to have been offered the chance to drive this one! As you say, the rust killed the majority of these, as they were not really very valuable for a really long time, so it was not worth keeping them on the road. Thank you very much indeed for watching or commenting!
Fantastic! I`ve seen many photos of this car on Alex`s Flickr and facebook accounts. The Mazda and Yugo as well.
The magazine advert for the early Stellars read: “We saw the replacement of the Ford Cortina in a different mould". At the bottom of of the page was a photo of a Stellar and at the top was an image of what looks like a Ford Sierra in the style of an actual Jelly Mould. Quite clever bit of advertising I thought. 😄
Yes, it probably worked, as the Stellar sold to the sort of people who thought that the Sierra's design was too radical. The Mazda and Yugo have already been on the channel, although the Yugo has now been featured twice.
It's great to see cars as rare as this up so close. It reminds me of the Isuzu Aska from 1986/ 87. Such a pity machines like this were overlooked in that era. As ever an excellent review Sir!
We didn't get those over here, sir, just the Mark II Cavalier, but those did have a very nice facelift in around 1987 too...
Giugiaro also designed the Maserati Quattroporte around the same time and this car actually resembles that premium product.
Yes, I suppose it does look like one of those, come to think of it! Thank you ever so much indeed once again for watching and commenting.
Good Evening Sir and yet another rare beast. Excellent content once again 😊
We aim to please, sir!
Answers the question what would have happened if the Sierra had not happened!
Hyundai clearly thought it was a good idea.
Wonderful to see one of these again and original. Remember that value for money was a large selling point back in the day. Well done sir excellent as always.
We aim to please, sir! These are stupidly rare now, I was really privileged to have been able to go in one of these.
Great review, I own the last surviving roadworthy 2.0 Stellar Prima here in New Zealand, and just love it to drive it as its always a talking point wherever I go.
Interesting to see the differences between the 1.6 to the 2.0lt, and my word the 2.0 is the best model they made, it keeps up with modern traffic, and its power steering and aircon is as good as my wifes modern car
Yes, the 2.0 would have been the one to buy back in the day, as the steering was very heavy on this 1.6, and I could have done with some air conditioning! Thank you very much indeed for watching and commenting.
A excellent review Sir and what a survivor, only other ones i knew about where the Hubnut test drives and one from the slightly sweary youtube channel up here in Scotland.
Yes sir, these Stellars are almost extinct now. It was a massive privilege to have been offered this one. Thank you again for watching, sir.
Did like the Stellar back in the day gave it some thought. Decided upon an Astra in the end.😮
Do you regret your decision all these years later, sir?
@@lloydvehicleconsulting No sir, not really we liked the Stellar but Astra was better suited to our needs at the time.
@@DavidJohnston58 , I understand.
I had a metallic brown one back in the day. My local Hyundai dealer at the time, Charles Jenkins & Sons, had a display model in the showroom. It was white with red gold-faster stripes and TURBO in red lettering along the bottom of the doors. As to what the power plant was at the time, I have no idea.
It's very strange, as far as I know, these were not available officially with a Turbo. However, the 4G63 engine in the 2.0 Stellar was available with a Turbo in a great deal of other cars.
I worked for a Hyundai dealership in 1988,I think it was based on a ford cortina chasis
Yes, on the Mark V Cortina chassis.
In 2016 i saw one like this. There's about 7 of them left with one that got re engined with a V8
Very, very rare, was privileged to have been offered a go in this one!
The Hyundai Stellar 1.6 GSL was very well specified compared to a late Mk5 Cortina or indeed a Mk2 Cavalier. The equivalent Ford or Vauxhall would be 4 Speed, have no rev counter, no wheel trims, certainly no headlight washers, very plain interior, very basic AM/FM radio, narrow tyres.
Great value for money with the Stellar then and reliable powertrains. The Cavalier though would be more powerful and handle supremely better.
Given the choice of all three I would pick the Stellar every time. The old Korean Gentleman would be preaching to converted.
We have a 1982 Mark V Cortina 1.6 GL coming up on the channel soon, sir! I do hope that you enjoy it too. This Hyundai does have a lot more equipment than the Cortina.
A Capri V6 or Astron 2.4 motor would be dynamite in this car.
You can drop a V8 in one if you want...
Haven't driven a Cortina?
Wouldn't really bother...
It's already lined up on the channel.
So good to see the Stellar here! I test drove the same model in 1984. I was driving a Mk3 Cortina at the time and they felt very similar to drive. Only got to drive it round Dartford in Kent and the on some B roads, remember it being wallowy and leaning quite a lot. I stayed with my Mk3 in the end. Loved the look of the Stellar, but it did feel just like a re-clothed Cortina to drive.
Well, we have a Mark V Cortina coming up soon as well, which I filmed earlier this week! They do feel broadly similar to drive (unsurprisingly), but the two 1.6 engines (in this case the Mitsubishi, and of course the Pinto in the case of the Ford) are quite different in character. Thank you very much indeed for watching and commenting!