Hyundai's first US car sold 168,882 units in its debut year, still a record for a first-year import nameplate.
Lead trim: 1.3
Hyundai Excel X1X1 · 1985–1989
- 0spots by members
- Unclaimednobody has spotted one yet
- 0sets it belongs to
Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Hyundai Excel X1 yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactHyundai's first US car sold 168,882 units in its debut year, still a record for a first-year import nameplate.
The first Excel (X1), designed by Giugiaro at Italdesign, replaced the Pony and was built in Ulsan from February 1985 to April 1989 as a three- and five-door hatchback and four-door sedan; in Europe it kept the Pony name. In the United States it was Hyundai's first model, priced at $4,995, and set a record for a first-year import with 168,882 sold. It used Mitsubishi-derived 1.3 and 1.5-litre engines.
Collectors Spotted in the Hyundai Excel Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Hyundai Excel yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
3 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.3 | 1985–1989 | 1.3 L Inline-4 | 66 hp | — | — | FWD | — | — |
| 1.5 | 1985–1989 | 1.5 L Inline-4 | — | — | — | FWD | — | — |
| 1.5 LPG (taxi) | 1985–1989 | 1.5 L Inline-4 | — | — | — | FWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
The X2's face so closely echoed the new Sonata that Hyundai held off its own facelift until late 1991, just to keep them looking like siblings.
The Excel was Hyundai's first car sold in the United States, arriving in 1986 and becoming the best-selling import car in its debut year, according to Hyundai.
Hyundai's first US car sold 168,882 units in its debut year, still a record for a first-year import nameplate.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
Japan was a minor market for the Swift: when it passed 2 million sales in 2011, about 39% were in India and 27% in Europe, against roughly 15% at home.
To adapt the Horizon for America, Chrysler bought nearly 100 Volkswagen Rabbits purely to reverse engineer them.
The Mk3 Focus RS's AWD system could send 100 percent of engine power to the rear wheels alone — built not in Ford's home country, but at the Saarlouis plant in Germany.
In June 2003, a Mégane II became the subject of the first ever live televised crash test with a real human driver at the wheel instead of a dummy — filmed by Top Gear.
This Wagon R redesigned its rear doors specifically to kill off the D-pillar — bigger doors with built-in quarter glass solved what earlier generations needed a whole extra pillar for.
The BX was the UK's best-selling diesel car for four years from 1987, and 2,315,739 were built in all.
Six months before Suzuki retired the Fronte name for good, the CN11S's 796cc version was already being built in China under a completely different name: the Anchi 6330.
Built to use up Chrysler-Simca's parts bin, it took its engine and gearbox straight from the front-wheel-drive Simca 1100 but mounted them amidships instead.