Manufacturer Hyundai Motor Company Designer Giorgetto Giugiaro Layout FR layout | Production 1983–1997 Class Mid-size | |
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The Hyundai Stellar (Hangul: 현대 스텔라) was a mid-size rear-wheel drive automobile produced by the Hyundai Motor Company to succeed the soon to be replaced Ford Cortina that Hyundai were building under licence. The Stellar was launched in July 1983. The Stellar was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, but the chassis from the Cortina Mk V was kept.
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The engine and transmission were licensed from Mitsubishi Motors. Engines available were 1.4 L (4G33) and 1.6 L (4G32) inline-fours until 1986 (same as the Hyundai Pony, using either a KM119 5-speed manual or a Borg-Warner 03-55L 3-speed automatic) and a 2.0 L engine for 1987. Trim levels included L (base), GL/CL, and GSL/CXL. The GSL/CXL featured power windows, locks and mirrors; remote fuel door, remote trunk, premium sound system, full instrumentation (speed, tach, fuel, water temp, volts, and oil pressure) and available air conditioning, a rather surprising list of features for the year and type of car. The Stellar's Ford genes and conventional design led many British observers to compare it with the then recently discontinued Cortina - where conservative buyers were scared off by the Sierra's radical styling, a fact played upon by Hyundai's advertising agency with print advertisements depicting a jelly/jello mold shaped like the Sierra, above a picture of the Stellar. Like the Cortina, the Stellar also has wishbone suspension up front with a coil sprung live rear axle.
As well as being comparable to the Cortina, which had been Britain's best selling car, it also found favour with buyers due to its competitive asking price, which meant that it was priced comparably to a smaller Escort rather than a Sierra. It was sold in Britain from 1984 to 1991.
For 1987, the Stellar II (Or Stellar 2.0 in Canada) was refreshed. Changes included a 2-way catalytic converter, new instrument cluster, larger 2.0 L Mitsubishi 4G63 engine (SOHC with eight valves) with a feedback two-barrel carburetor, higher output alternator, larger headlights and restyled taillights. The front double wishbone suspension was changed to a MacPherson strut design, along with larger brake calipers, as well as a two-piece driveshaft. The Stellar had the option of riding on several types of aluminum alloy wheels, and was equipped standard with Michelin all-season tires (Canada). Also that year, an automatic transmission (Borg Warner 03-71) with overdrive was available as an option. In the domestic Korean market, this was the first of their cars to be sold as the Sonata.
The Stellar was not available in the United States due to strict emission standards there, but it was available in Canada and other countries. In addition, the Stellar was the only four-cylinder powered mainstream rear-wheel drive sedan, replacing the Toyota Corolla (which shifted to front-wheel drive) in 1984. The Stellar was replaced in Canada by the Hyundai New Sonata for 1992. In the Korean domestic market, the lower end of the Stellar lineup can be considered as having been replaced by the Sonata. The Stellar (along with the Pony) would be Hyundai's last rear-wheel drive cars for North America until the 2009 Genesis.