I’d hoped to see some classic Korean cars at the
SamsungMuseum, since I certainly hadn’t seen any on the roads. There weren’t too many
on display at the museum either. Their website lists four, but I only managed
to get pictures of three, plus a classic Datsun. They must change their
displays from time to time, because while researching some of the other cars, I
found a blog entry from 2008 by Rachel So, talking about her visit. She has
details and photos of many more Korean cars than were visible when I was there,
so if you’re interested,
check it out. Unlike me, she can obviously read
Korean, as she had much more information on the vehicles.
According to
Wikipedia, South Korea’s automotive industry only
goes back to 1955 when they started making cars from jeep parts. Kia’s been
around since 1964, though not under that name—they originally had a licensing arrangement
with Mazda. Hyundai shows up in 1968, working with Ford. They’ve since acquired
Kia. Samsung started business in 1998, bad timing on their part due to a
financial crisis in Asia. They are currently mostly owned by Renault. These three manufacturers currently produce most of the cars on South Korea's roads.
1969 Kia Master T-600
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1969 Kia Master T-600 by Kate Tompkins |
There’s a good description of Kia’s history on
Perrys blog.
It talks about Kia’s first vehicle, a three-wheeled truck called the Master
K-360. Looks like the same vehicle as the T-600 at the museum, but the only
mention of the T-600 is under the entry for the Kia Brisa. This thing is small,
but there are still a lot of small trucks on South Korea’s roads. The low bed
is also typical of many of the newer trucks I saw while I was there.
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1969 Kia Master T-600 by Kate Tompkins |
1976 Hyundai Pony
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First Generation Hyundai Pony by Kate Tompkins |
I have this in my notes as a 1979, but the website says it’s
a ’76, so we’ll go with that. Either way, this four door sedan would be a first-generation
Pony (1975-1982).
Wikipedia says it was meant to compete with the Kia Brisa (next in the line-up) and was
designed by several British engineers, including one who had been involved with
the Morris Marina.
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First Generation Hyundai Pony by Kate Tompkins |
That’s not exactly a recommendation. I remember my parents
driving one of those, though ours was an Austin rather than a Morris, and it
was after that my dad stopped buying Austins. He said it was a real lemon. Now
that I’m looking at it, I can see the family resemblance. I’ll have to check my
old albums for possible photos of the Marina to scan in so I can post them side
by side.
Wikipedia goes on to say that the Pony was tested by Motor
magazine, and was found to have a top speed of 92 mph and could do 0-60 in 15.3
seconds. Definitely not a sports car, but it was exported to several European
countries. The second generation (1982-1990) was even exported to Canada, where
it apparently did well, as it was inexpensive. Can’t say I remember ever seeing
one before my trip to the Samsung Museum.
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First Generation Hyundai Pony by Kate Tompkins |
1979 Kia Brisa K-303
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1979 Kia Brisa K-303 by Kate Tompkins |
Wikipedia says the Kia Brisa is based on the Mazda Familia. The first Brisas were
pickups, before they started producing cars. They were only built from 1974 to
1981, at which point the government decided light trucks were more important.
There must have been considerably fewer cars on South Korea’s roads back then.
Apparently only 31,017 Brisa cars were built, and yet it looks like a car meant
to be affordable.
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1979 Kia Brisa K-303 by Kate Tompkins |
1936 Datsun Model 15 Roadster
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1936 Datsun Model 15 Roadster by Kate Tompkins |
I apologize for the picture quality on this one. It was
meant to look like it was in a garage, and the area was consequently poorly
lit. You can find all kinds of details about the Model 15 at
earlydatsun.
This was a nicely restored car and I would have liked to have seen more Asian
cars from this period.
We’ve now covered all the categories for the main floor
except Cars in Film, but I still have photos of several cars I haven’t
discussed, so I guess I’ll need to invent a new category.