Yahoo Autos Junkyard Gem: 1993 Hyundai Scoupe
Hyundai was earning a big name for itself in North America when the 1990s dawned, first with the 1983 Pony (in Canada only) and then with the spectacularly cheap Excel beginning in 1986. The Sonata debuted here as a 1989 model, luring some buyers away from the more expensive Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. Two years later, Hyundai brought over a sporty coupe based on the Excel: the Scoupe. Nearly every example of the Scoupe has disappeared from American roads and car graveyards by now, but I managed to find this '93 in Colorado recently.
In the United States and Canada (as well as in its South Korean homeland), this car's model name was pronounced "scoop," while in Europe is was marketed as the "ess-coo-PAY."
The Scoupe was available here from the 1991 through 1995 model years. It was cheap, with the base model listing at just $9,069 for 1993 (about $19,528 in 2023 dollars). This car has the more luxurious LS trim level, so its MSRP would have been $10,199 ($21,961 after inflation). The hot-rod Scoupe Turbo for '93 had a price tag starting at $10,999 ($23,638 in today's money).
Those were tough prices to beat for a slick-looking notchback coupe at the time. Your friendly Chevy dealer had the 1993 Cavalier coupe at $9,520 for the RS and $12,500 for the Z24. The cheapest version of the 1993 Honda Prelude was well out the prospective Scoupe buyer's price range, at $17,000, and even the lowly 1993 Civic coupe started at $10,350.
Toyota had the Tercel-derived Paseo coupe for $11,498, which was a good deal in terms of build quality but certainly not for driving enjoyment. Isuzu was then in its final model year of selling non-truck models in the United States, and the Impulse coupe had an MSRP of $12,499 to go with its Lotus-tuned suspension. Nissan? Yokohama's cheapest notchback coupe over here for 1993 was the 240SX, starting at $14,755; a great deal for a rear-wheel-drive sports coupe but far out of reach for most prospective Scoupe buyers.
The Ford Escort was hatchback- and wagon-only, but the most affordable 1993 Mustang notchback (then in its final year on the Fox platform) had a sticker price of a mere $10,719 with 2.3-liter "Pinto" engine. Pontiac had the base Sunbird Coupe for $9,382 and the Grand Am coupe at $12,524. The Plymouth Sundance and Sundance Duster two-doors were hatchbacks but looked notchbacky, and had sticker prices of $8,397 and $10,498, respectively. The Scoupe came with a bunch of standard features that were extra-cost options on the competition, too, which made it even more tempting to buyers.
The upshot is that it proved nearly impossible to beat the Scoupe on price alone (the poverty-spec Sundance and its Dodge Shadow twin just barely managed the feat). By 1993, though, the abysmal build quality of the Excel was well-known and scaring off many potential Hyundai shoppers, so that perception sat on the other side of the scale for car shoppers at the time. The Scoupe sold poorly here and disappeared without leaving much trace.
