Let’s think back on the Hyundai timeline. There’s the Sonata, before which there was the Sonata, and then there were a whole bunch of Mitsubishi-engined Sonatas, and then there’s the Stellar. Exactly! The Stellar, an in-betweener from the time when Hyundai still built Ford Cortinas under licence, and was in transition to using Mitsubishi partsbin stuff in bodies they designed themselves.
The Hyundai Stellar was a rear-drive car that used the 1970s Cortina platform, but under the hood was a Mitsubishi four-cylinder. The body was a Giugiaro design, tall, blocky and narrow, and the glasshouse is a good few percent too far back to make perfect sense from the side on. They aren’t exactly commonplace anywhere, but there’s a surviving, fully loaded 1987 car in the Netherlands and it’s for sale.
Stellars were imported to Canada and some European countries, and in the UK they were marketed as a cheap alternative to the then-new Ford Sierra, which was a quite a bit too blobby for the conservative Ford buyer. Enter, then, the very affordable Stellar that didn’t have anything daring except for the badge.
There’s quite a bit of trunk on it, but the rear-wheel-drive chassis means it’s not really that spacious inside as compared to a more modern 1980s FWD saloon.
The dashboard is an interesting design, and there’s a lot of blue plastic in there.
The rev gauge design has been altered from the initial, curved shape one. This is a late car, and the Stellar was soon replaced by the new, front-drive Sonata that used a Mitsubishi Galant platform.
That is a sturdy gear selector if I ever saw one.
Two litres, 83 horsepower. It’s not going to be quick, especially with the auto.
This 2.0 GSL model has only covered 120 000 km, and it’s sat for some years. The asking price is a sort of reasonable two thousand euros, which for an unicorn like this is chips. Prepare to change some gaskets, even if the last service stamp is only 5000km old.
See the Autoscout listing here
Bonus: Take your time to enjoy the original 1983 promotional video for the Stellar. The music is quite funky.
[youtube width=”720″ height=”480″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfQLidmZAmg[/youtube]
[Source: Autoscout24.eu/YouTube]
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