Today, the Hyundai company has a reputation of a manufacturer of its own cars. Nevertheless, it is interesting to know that when the company started, it was actually making other company’s vehicles. So if we get back to 1967 we will see the beginning of the friendship between Ford company and Hyundai. During the period between 1967 to 1973, Hyundai built about 3 models for Ford. These include Ford Granada built for the Korean domestic market, Ford Taunus-based 20M – the version of German Ford Taunus P7 and, of course, Ford Cortina that became the first car built by Hyundai for the Ford company.

Despite many of us know that Ford had a close relationship with Kia, it was exactly the Hyundai company that sneaked in and grabbed the Ford company from under it in 1998. Nevertheless, it is worth to mention that companies were quite close friends even before.

So the beginning of the friendship between two giant companies began in 1967 when Ford partnered up with Hyundai to build a new factory in the city of Ulsan in South Korea. For about 15 years, until 1982, Hyundai built the Ford Cortina under license.

It is interesting to know that even when it came time to produce the Stellar – a replacement for Ford Cortina – Hyundai still used a Cortina chassis, draped in a body designed by Giugiaro and powered by Mitsubishi engines.

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