Hyundai's made several runs at producing an inexpensive sporty coupe. The first one, back in the early Nineties, was the Excel-based Scoupe. The Scoupe (or S-Coupe) was an attempt at making their dull entry-level econobox more appealing to youthful buyers by giving it a sportier roofline. It's largely forgotten today and for good reason, as it was an utterly forgettable car.
Next up came the Tiburon, which is Spanish for "shark". The first generation debuted in the '97 model year and had a unique, swoopy body and your choice of 1.8L or 2.0L four-cylinder engines.
The second generation of the Tiburon, like the one in the photo, launched as a 2003 model and came either as a base 2.0L coupe, or in GT form with a 172bhp 2.7L V-6.
Given a mid-cycle styling refresh in 2007, the car fizzled out only a couple years later. After a couple year hiatus, Hyundai tried again in the early 'Teens with the Veloster, but that's a tale for a different day.
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