Over a decade ago, Hyundai\’s Tiburon vanished into the deep abyss within the seas of history, leaving a void to be filled in the sport compact niche.
At around the same time, the Korean company had been working on a concept at its Design and Technical Center, one dubbed the HND-3. A two-liter inline-four moved the two-door hatchback\’s front wheels, with a five-speed auto to direct the ponies around.
Following its debut in Seoul in 2007, a few more changes and refinements led to the production-ready version in 2011. The car, now called the Veloster, bowed at that year\’s Detroit Auto Show with one noticeable change: two doors on the passenger side, a single, larger door for the driver. Such a configuration was a rarity for new cars in its day, found only on the Mini Clubman.
Fast-forward to 2021. The Veloster is now a decade-old, and in its second generation, introduced in 2018 for the 2019 model year. Within that first model year, Hyundai dropped a bombshell: the Veloster N TCR. The company announced it was going racing in IMSA\’s Michelin Pilot Challenge in the TCR class.
And for those who wanted that experience on the street, the Veloster N would also arrive in the 2019 model year to wake up the neighborhood.
Let\’s see how things are two years later.