The Segye Ilbo ran a photo essay that anybody interested in Korean history and old cars needs to check out. For Liberation Day, 15 old cars of historic significance were on display in Yeouido, including (photos):
- President Syngman Rhee’s 1960 Cadillac, which he rode to the airport after he was overthrown that year;
- President Park Chung-hee’s rather pimpin’ 1968 Cadillac;
- 1955 “Shibal Taxi,” the first domestically produced taxi (basically reassembled from scrap U.S. jeep parts);
- 1968 Kia K-360 three-wheeled delivery vehicle (basically a Mazda product), which was apparently famous for tipping over on sharp turns;
- 1968 Toyota Publica (produced by Shinjin Motor, which eventually became Daewoo), with an air-cooled engine that apparently required drivers to stop every two hours;
- 1975 Opel Record (produced locally by GM Korea), a symbol of wealth during the 1970s;
- 1977 Hyundai Pony 1, Korea’s first “home grown” car;
- 1983 Hyundai Excel, a major export product of the 1980s;
- 1944 Jeep, the first military-use vehicle in Korea (1945);
- 1968 Ford New Cortina (produced locally by Hyundai), a luxury car (for Korea at the time) that battled it out with the Daewoo Royale series;
- 1968 Toyota Corona (produced locally by Shinjin Motor), a very popular model at the time;
- 1978 Mazda 303 (produced locally as the Kia Brisa K303;
- 1975 Kia Brisa S-1000, Kia’s first passenger car;
- 1974 Shinjin Jeep (basically a locally produced Kaiser Jeep), Korea’s first civilian-use jeep;
- 1962 Mutt Jeep, better known as the Kennedy Jeep
Ancient Korean car buffs (who read Korean) can check out the online car museum here.
18 Comments
Most exellent! Thanks for the link, Marmot!
The one I love the best were those three wheel contraptions that served as pickup trucks. They were everywhere back in the early 70’s. I remember the times when I as a child, rode in one when our family was moving, and thought it was the greatest feeling to be in this car because it only had three wheels. I also remember those jeeps - and everytime one came by, all the neighborhood kids would run and follow it through the narrow unpaved streets full of mud. They were everywhere too. Most of the cars back then had black colors. Only the rich and the well off were able to afford one. Taxis were cheap and they were abundant. I loved the smell of the taxis - it’s hard to describe it. On the other hand, the buses were brutal, as your ass began to hurt when the poorly suspensioned buses bounced up and down the rough roads. They also had those young women in ill trimmed uniforms who took your money and closed/opened the bus doors. I remember them all, it was like yesterday.
“Shibal Taxi” is s* funny.
Kimbob: they were called ????????, right? I’d never even heard of them, but I saw 2 of them on 2 different TV shows in the space of a week. ??????! ???????!
By the way, Marmot: does “Ancient Korean car buffs” mean:
(1) People who like ancient Korean cars;
(2) Old people who like Korean cars of any age; or
(3) Old Koreans who like cars of any age and provenance?
“Kimbob: they were called ????????, right?”
Is that what they were called? LOL
It’s been decades since I’ve seen one.
I just found the word by accident in a dictionary, a week after I’d seen them on TV. (Talk about your mundane coincidences….)
From the ?? ????? ???????:
???????? (???????): ??????? ???? ??????????, ???? ???????? ???????? ????? ? ?? ?????? ????? ????????? ?????? ???????. A female transportation worker on a train, bus, etc. responsible for giving the departure signal [that'd be the ???????! ???????!, I guess], information to passengers, etc. [Wouldn't she take the fares, too?]
They may have worn ill-fitting uniforms, but surely ???????? were the object of a few young mens’ affection way back when? There must be an old pop song or two about them….
??? ?????????
??????? ?????
???? ???? ????????
???????????…
And I thought that “shibal” was called “shibal” because it would break down a lot. I learn something new everyday.
Thank you Marmot!
No Mapsi though. I have a pic of an old car called a Mapsi. Love to get one of these to drive arround.
I really enjoyed this article, particularly the K-360. The engine size (577cc) is smaller than most motorcycles sold today in the US.
BTW, can you tell me anything about the Brisa B-1000 pickup. Is that related to any Madza product, or homegrown?
Here’s the link
What they say about the ???????????:
?????? 3???????? ??????????? ??? ??????? marmot ??? ????????? ????????.
Gives me new insight into why the Marmot may have chosen his name (????? ?? ??? ????? ????).
iwshim wrote:No Mapsi though. I have a pic of an old car called a Mapsi. Love to get one of these to drive arround.
Ah yes, the Daewoo Maepsy. In my opinion, this was the original Korean crapmobile (crappier than any Hyundai) and you can probably find some of these still beating around the military bases, passed down from departing GI’s to newbies. When I was a kid here in 1990 you sometimes would see this same car badged as a “Saehan Motors Bird”. But it was exactly the same as the Daewoo and both of ‘em were about 100% GM/Opel on the inside. The models tooling around the bases then were from the early 80’s although the engineering was late 1960’s/early 1970’s under the hood.
A real stinker.
Brendon, I don’t recall seeing any Maepsy at Yongsan in a very, very, very long time. But I haven’t been looking for the spicy little vehicle, so I’ll keep an eye out, just in case.
The hooptie cars (as they’re called, not sure of the spelling), usually aren’t any older than the early 1990s at this point.
Those of you in Europe, are Opels considered good cars, okay cars, or crap? We got a rent an Opel rent-a-car during the one week we were in Lazio, and it was decent.
I think in the Army they’re called “hoopties” but it was something else down on the Air Force base, started with “ville”-something. But I don’t remember what. It didn’t matter to me — I was in the Navy and relatively unsupervised, being detached from Zoeckler Station to Osan AB. The five of us squids had a Navy command vehicle the use of which we (well, at least *I* did whenever I got the chance, which was relatively frequently) waste, fraud, and abused the hell out of. The incentive (and opportunity) for me was greater since the other guys were all late-career E-6s and had their own cars anyway. Originally it was an ancient white Jeep, as clapped out as any hooptie. What a piece of crap it was! But what fun!
The best part was that SOFA status, and the military’s conspiracy with Roh Tae Woo meant that we junior troops could run down anyone we wanted without fear of consequences. In fact, we were paid a secret bonus. I must have killed 50 people. Those were the days.
Like the picks. A buddy was driving a Ford Cortina as late as 1995. It seemed to go from Point A to Point B just fine.
wooj, ooo interesting insight. and i thought he just liked furry creatures.
excellent! if you haven’t been to the samsung car museum, it’s definitely worth a visit. some mint-condition vintage korean cars and a pretty eclectic collection of international vehicles. the motorbikes are awesome.