Tuscani Side, originally uploaded by mehugtree.
Came upon this ride in the parking lot after lunch. I saw it drive by from the patio of “Tin Drum” and my first thought was that it was a Maserati.
In my defense I only glimsed the tail of it and saw the round badge.
On closer inspection it looks to be a “Tuscani”. I’d never heard of it. My lunch pal, smarkle, said it looked a lot like a Hyundai Tiburan. Turns out he was right. It is a rebadged Tiburan. Or maybe the Tiburan is a rebadged Tuscani? According to my old friend Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Tiburon) Tuscani is the South Korean name for this vehicle we ‘mericans lovingly know as the Tiburan.
Whatever.
It looks nice.
It likely won’t be mistaken for a Maserati at anything more than a passing glance, but it certainly didn’t look like the Tiburon’s of old, and the Tuscani badging all the way around lend it a mysterious air. The smooth curving lines lend it a sporty, well-designed look. Sporty rims and largish brakes add to the effect and the dual-exhaust neatly tucked under the rear makes you want to hear it run.
The interior looked really nice, at least from the outside. Tastefully done in, I think, maroon and black leather, the air of elegance was only broken by the Hyundai steering wheel. Guess they couldn’t find that replacement.
Hyundai, moving up in the world!
more pics:
Note Hyundai Steering Wheel:
April 20, 2008 at 2:52 am
Yep, badged differently in different parts of the world – Tiburon or Tuscani.
Looks very nice in yellow… Had a chance to snap a used one up (yellow!)with a perfect black interior but Hyundai has terrible re-sale value in my market…
April 21, 2008 at 10:29 am
Nice car, but front wheel drive and a wheezy engine… there’s much more that can be be had for the same amount of money