Junkyard Find: 2003 Hyundai Elantra GT 5-door Hatchback
Back in June, our learned friend Sajeev Mehta traveled from Houston to Colorado, where he learned about single-digit humidity and accompanied me to a number of junkyards along the I-25 corridor. He pointed out this South Korean rarity at a boneyard in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
We've been seeing older cars in this series for quite a while, with every Junkyard Find a 20th century vehicle— and all but one of those from the 1952- 1987 period— since we admired a final-year GM J-Body in North Carolina way back in May. It's time we looked at some discarded automotive history from our current century, yes?
Hyundai got its start in North America by selling the rear-wheel-drive Pony in Canada as a 1984 model. The incredibly cheap Excel showed up in the United States for the 1986 model year, followed by the midsize Sonata for 1989. The Excel-based quasi-sporty Scoupe appeared here two years after that.
At that point, the suits in Seoul must have decided that the company needed a Corolla competitor to squeeze in between the Yugo-rival Excel and the Camry-rival Sonata. This was the Elantra, which first appeared in North American Hyundai showrooms as a 1992 model.
The second-generation Elantra debuted here as a 1996 model and included a station wagon version. The third-gen car arrived as a 2001 model, and the top-trim-level GT was added for 2003.
The original Elantra GT came with a stiffer suspension, leather seats, snazzy-looking aluminum wheels and other goodies. It was the first true performance-tuned Hyundai sold in the United States.
The third-generation Elantra sedan was available in GT form through 2005, while sales of the hatchback GT continued through 2006. When the fourth-generation Elantra went on sale here as a 2007 model, the GT trim level disappeared (but returned for 2013).
The engine is a 2.0-liter DOHC straight-four rated at 135 horsepower.
Transmission choices were a five-speed manual and four-speed automatic. This car has the automatic.
The MSRP was $15,444, or about $26,757 in 2024 dollars.
This car got some body work with thick layers of Bondo at some point during its driving career.
At some point, it passed through Patriot Auto Sales in Cheyenne, which at the time of this writing had just one Hyundai for sale ( a 2013 Elantra GLS).
Another Equality State car retired.
2003 Hyundai Elantra GT in Wyoming wrecking yard.
2003 Hyundai Elantra GT in Wyoming wrecking yard.
2003 Hyundai Elantra GT in Wyoming wrecking yard.
2003 Hyundai Elantra GT in Wyoming wrecking yard.
2003 Hyundai Elantra GT in Wyoming wrecking yard.
2003 Hyundai Elantra GT in Wyoming wrecking yard.
2003 Hyundai Elantra GT in Wyoming wrecking yard.
2003 Hyundai Elantra GT in Wyoming wrecking yard.
2003 Hyundai Elantra GT in Wyoming wrecking yard.
2003 Hyundai Elantra GT in Wyoming wrecking yard.
[Images: Author]
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Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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I always found the exterior styling on this generation of Elantra liftbacks/hatchbacks to be slightly derivative of Saab styling
Does anyone else see/notice this?
Amazing how far Hyundai has come since then.