Hyundai Presto

The Hyundai Presto was the sedan version of the first-generation Excel, a front-wheel-drive small car from Hyundai Motor Company. Introduced on 8 February 1985 as the successor to the Pony and on sale from 8 July 1985, it was the first front-wheel-drive sedan built in South Korea and had a flip-front bonnet. Its name is a music term for very fast. Abroad it was sold as the Excel in the United States, Canada and Australia, and as the Pony in Europe. Hyundai entered the US market in January 1986 and sold about 168,000 Excels and Prestos in that first year, a record for the best first year of an imported brand. An AMX trim with five-mile bumpers arrived in September 1986, a 1,300 cc engine in July 1987 and a 10,000-unit Olympic edition in 1988, and combined output passed one million in July 1988. The second-generation Excel sedan replaced it in 1989.