Academy 1975 Hyundai Pony

[niteowl7710]

Clear runner with the one piece front/rear piece and separate side windows. Along with a few odd pieces that are not called out in this kit's assembly.

Chrome runner is a nice bright shiny chrome and holds the two wheel sets, front and rear light assemblies and bumper sections.

Pre colored amber and red runners in duplicate allowing your to build the vehicle based on local lighting laws. 

Tires are unlicensed affairs with decent tread pattern. Not sure how prototypical they are to whatever came on the car in 1975, but they're certainly econocar small and narrow.

[niteowl7710]

Lastly on the paper work front the markings come in your choice of adhesive sticker and (thankfully) regular water slides.

Instructions are a stapled booklet on glossy paper about the size of a standard Tamiya affair. There are no paint call outs since in the idea of the MCP (Multi Color Plastic) concept is you don't need to paint anything.

Then a quick peek at a couple of pages to give you a feel for the style of instructions and quality of diagrams.

[Erik Smith]

Ah, looks better than expected. Thanks for posting James. I ordered one as well, maybe should have got two.

I like the plain steel wheel choice. 

[randyc]

That's kinda cool.   I don't see it really fitting my collection but would love to see some WIP and finished builds.  

I quite enjoyed most of my Sante Fe build.   lol

Edited November 11, 2020 by randyc

[stavanzer]

Thanks for the photos!  Neat Kit of a totally unknown (in the USA) car. I hope it sells well.

[Luc Janssens]

I vaguely remember these.

[iamsuperdan]

I think I might just pick one of these up.

[martinfan5]

My Hyundai Pony kit is scheduled to depart South Korea on the 15th via Hawaiian Airlines, flight # HA1326 to Honolulu , it will depart at 8pm and should arrive at 930am on Nov 15th

[Rob Hall]

5 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

My Hyundai Pony kit is scheduled to depart South Korea on the 15th via Hawaiian Airlines, flight # HA1326 to Honolulu , it will depart at 8pm and should arrive at 930am on Nov 15th

Nice..what vendor did you order yours from? 

[martinfan5]

9 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

Nice..what vendor did you order yours from? 

Ebay seller

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Academy-1-24-1975-Korea-First-Model-Car-Hyundai-Pony-Car-Model-Kit-15137/233764050514?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

Edited November 13, 2020 by martinfan5

[Erik Smith]

2 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

Ebay seller

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Academy-1-24-1975-Korea-First-Model-Car-Hyundai-Pony-Car-Model-Kit-15137/233764050514?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

I bought one from same seller, but went with bargain shipping, which, if it’s been anything like the shipments from Japan this year, may take months. 

[martinfan5]

1 hour ago, Erik Smith said:

I bought one from same seller, but went with bargain shipping, which, if it’s been anything like the shipments from Japan this year, may take months. 

I went with the bargain shipping too ($8)

[niteowl7710]

I paid for the $19 shipping because it was the one I was sure I'd actually receive before the 2022 election. Took 4 days via the FedEx TransPacific Trebuchet.

[Erik Smith]

2 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

I went with the bargain shipping too ($8)

Oh man, good to know. $8 for shipping that quick from Korea is a bargain. 

[moparfarmer]

My own personal opinion..I don't mean any bad for anyone on this subject, but it is what I've experience with said Pony..Its a POS..Why anyone would want a model of one is beyond me except for a conversation piece..Where I live they rusted out in 6 months and couldn't get parts, especially if you traveled to USA..Had a friend who had one..Had three weeks holiday and took wife and three kids to Arizona..Waited for parts for week and half in some hick town in Arizona..Came home after fixed and dummy he was, bought another one that was just as bad as the first..A nice rusted out model of one would look normal..Good conversation piece though..Later in life he became our City of Winnipeg Fire Chief..Must have been too much Guiness in the system back then..LOL

 

[niteowl7710]

3 hours ago, moparfarmer said:

My own personal opinion..I don't mean any bad for anyone on this subject, but it is what I've experience with said Pony..Its a POS..Why anyone would want a model of one is beyond me except for a conversation piece..Where I live they rusted out in 6 months and couldn't get parts, especially if you traveled to USA..Had a friend who had one..Had three weeks holiday and took wife and three kids to Arizona..Waited for parts for week and half in some hick town in Arizona..Came home after fixed and dummy he was, bought another one that was just as bad as the first..A nice rusted out model of one would look normal..Good conversation piece though..Later in life he became our City of Winnipeg Fire Chief..Must have been too much Guiness in the system back then..LOL

 

Couldn't get parts here because it was never imported here. It couldn't pass U.S. Emission Standards, and we didn't get Hyundais until the Excel. Although from the Wikipedia page about the Pony II, it was the best selling car in Canada in 1984...so apparently the entire country fell victim to it's charm. ?

[Justin Porter]

6 hours ago, moparfarmer said:

My own personal opinion..I don't mean any bad for anyone on this subject, but it is what I've experience with said Pony..Its a POS..Why anyone would want a model of one is beyond me except for a conversation piece.

 

Replace "Pony" with "Omni" or "Valiant" or "Vectra" or any number of other small cars that people have a personal connection to in their domestic market, then remember that in terms of Korean auto manufacturing the Pony is a significant car, Korea is a significant modeling market, and Academy is a Korean kit manufacturer. 

I have no doubt that Academy isn't at all concerned as to whether or not they sell a single one in the US market.

[Erik Smith]

1 hour ago, Justin Porter said:

Replace "Pony" with "Omni" or "Valiant" or "Vectra" or any number of other small cars that people have a personal connection to in their domestic market, then remember that in terms of Korean auto manufacturing the Pony is a significant car, Korea is a significant modeling market, and Academy is a Korean kit manufacturer. 

I have no doubt that Academy isn't at all concerned as to whether or not they sell a single one in the US market.

True, and as a bonus they’ve already sold at least 3 to the US based on this thread. 

There are some modelers that would rather swallow a mouthful of sugar barf than buy another Chevelle or Corvette model. The Pony is quite welcome. 

[Tom Geiger]

I have no connection to this car but agree with Justin. Here in the US we got the Excel and I was intrigued with a new car for five grand. I went to a local dealer and they had them for a thousand over list and added aftermarket junk like fuzzy seat covers, tape stripes and fog lights to increase the price. I was ticked off at the money grab, left and never looked back.

I hadn’t even thought about Hyundai for a long line until I needed to rent an Avis car for a monthly trip from NJ to Syracuse NY. They gave me a Hyundai Elantra and it was a comfortable little car. After a few rentals, I wound up buying a used one for my daily commuter. Cheap enough that I got a two year old one for $12,000 cash with 28,000 miles on it. Four years later I have over 80,000 on it with no trouble at all!  I did maintenance and brakes so far. I’ll need tires soon but it’s been a good little buggy!

[Phildaupho]

16 hours ago, moparfarmer said:

My own personal opinion..I don't mean any bad for anyone on this subject, but it is what I've experience with said Pony..Its a POS..Why anyone would want a model of one is beyond me except for a conversation piece..Where I live they rusted out in 6 months and couldn't get parts, especially if you traveled to USA..Had a friend who had one..Had three weeks holiday and took wife and three kids to Arizona..Waited for parts for week and half in some hick town in Arizona..Came home after fixed and dummy he was, bought another one that was just as bad as the first..A nice rusted out model of one would look normal..Good conversation piece though..Later in life he became our City of Winnipeg Fire Chief..Must have been too much Guiness in the system back then..LOL

 

Canada was the test market for Hyundai. In the mid 1970s I saw the first Pony at a new car show in Vancouver. Afterwards they started selling like crazy because they were so cheap. I even looked into starting a dealership. They soon released another larger sedan model which was also very poplar - the Stellar but both were real rust buckets  and were written off by many but Hyundai really figured their market out and now produce an incredible line up of cars.

[Tom Geiger]

Hyundai never was a rinky dink little company. Before they got into cars they were already one of the largest, if not the largest, industrial company in Korea. 

They did major construction, ship building and even electronics.  Back when my kids were young my eldest always asked if she could have one large gift instead of a bunch of small stuff. One year she wanted a little color TV for her room.

That led me to a Black Friday sale at Bradlees at 7am to get her a no name 13” color TV they advertised cheap. As I stood in line I thought I should have one like that for the model room so I got one for myself  too and had to hide both until Christmas. The no name brand that was meaningless to us back then?  Hyundai!  And both TVs performed perfectly. 

[dimaxion]

This is the first Hundi Model Kit I ever saw . I Build / Collect all I can get my meat hooks  on from all nations . Yes , I would buy /build a Yugo .. lol .. It did not have a Person in it . Year and Model I don't recall . Re-Sale Red works well for me on this .  Comments ?  Thanx 

[ChrisBcritter]

Might be fun to do a pickup conversion - those were popular in Central and South America. I once saw one heading into L.A.; bright red, mags and Salvadoran license plates.

[64Comet404]

6 hours ago, dimaxion said:

This is the first Hundi Model Kit I ever saw . I Build / Collect all I can get my meat hooks  on from all nations . Yes , I would buy /build a Yugo .. lol .. It did not have a Person in it . Year and Model I don't recall . Re-Sale Red works well for me on this .  Comments ?  Thanx 

That is a model of the Pony II, which was the version sold in Canada in the mid-1980's. Most of the ones I remeber seeing were painted in earth tones, or the bright pastel colours that were popular on early '70s Datsun products.

[1972coronet]

There was a 2014 Hyundai 5 door Accent where I used to work , and it was my favourite car in the fleet ! 

The store used to buy these things at auctions ; many times they were retired rental vehicles , or rentals which were in wrecks , and the agency had them fixed then auctioned . 

What I liked about that Accent was its planetary gear set transmission --- no garbage CVT's !  Had a manual-shift gate as well which was really handy for compression-braking or winding it out a bit going up-hill . 
The GDI engine certainly didn't want for power , as that car ran like a striped ape ! Power windows , cruise control, and a nice stereo rounded it out nicely .

When we got the car in late 2016 , its odometer read 30,000 miles . When I left work in January 2020 , the odometer read 170,000 ! 

140,000 hard miles (parts delivery vehicle) , and never a single issue ! 

Hyundai came a long way . I'd love to have an Accel 5 door just like the one at work (except cosmetically-cleaner) .