The Hyundai Genesis Coupe is a car no one in 1986 could have imagined Hyundai was capable of building. Back then Hyundai had just begun selling cars in the United States, and what it was selling was cheap, boring and disposable. Over the years, however, Hyundai got better. And with the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, the company has finally produced a vehicle that could sell strictly on its virtues instead of its low price and long warranty.
It's not as if the Hyundai Genesis Coupe can rely on heritage for its sales. Hyundai's first stab at a sport coupe for America was the underwhelming, underpowered, front-drive Scoupe that was sold in the U.S. between 1991 and '95. It was followed in 1996 by the first-generation Tiburon coupe that featured swooping styling that managed to be awkward from every angle.
That Tiburon was still front-wheel drive, but at least the 2.0-liter four in its nose made 140 horsepower. The second-generation Tiburon, introduced for 2002, kept that base four but added a 2.7-liter V6 that made 172 hp. The rear-drive Hyundai Genesis Coupe, on the other hand, is a different beast altogether.
Sharing some components with the larger Genesis sedan, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe has a sophisticated all-independent suspension and, at its 2009 introduction, was powered by either a 2.0-liter turbo-4 or a 3.8-liter V6 making more than 300 hp. Thanks to excellent suspension tuning and those willing engines, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe was received with almost universal praise upon its introduction.
The Hyundai Genesis Coupe may also prove to be Hyundai's first significant entrant into North American motorsport. Rhys Millen Motorsports, for example, was campaigning the Hyundai Genesis Coupe in professional drifting within a few months of its introduction.
Millen also piloted standard Hyundai Genesis Coupes in commercials aired at the time of the car's launch in North America. Not surprisingly, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe was depicted drifting tail out — something new for a Hyundai product.
With the Hyundai Genesis Coupe and its brother, the large Hyundai Genesis sedan, Hyundai is finally in the business of building serious automobiles.
