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BARNSLEY, England — Top-of-the-line issues about touring to the automotive graveyards of a distant land is that you simply get to see discarded examples of automobiles that by no means got here shut to being bought in the US. I visited the breaker’s yards of northern England not too long ago and photographed loads of machines that by no means had an opportunity of coming to our continent, together with a 2007 Mitsubishi Colt, a 2008 Mitsubishi i, a 2005 Good ForFour, a 2005 Vauxhall Tigra, a 2009 Alfa Romeo Brera S and a 2010 Peugeot Bipper. Right this moment’s Junkyard Scrapyard Gem is a really helpful South Korean MPV that the majority American automotive buyers would have shunned as they backed away in horror from its not-at-all-truckish form: a Hyundai Matrix.
This automotive presently resides at Carlton Automotive Breakers in Barnsley, positioned in an industrial space between Sheffield and Leeds. There have been a number of boneyards specializing in transit bus elements close by, with row upon row of British double-decker buses inside, however they gave the impression to be open by appointment solely.
Carlton’s is a standard breaker’s yard (what we might name a dismantler in the US), so clients can are available in an take a look at the stock however usually should have staff extract elements for them.
Inside, it is a superb maze of principally late-model automobiles.
You may have to stroll sideways, fastidiously, between the rows of double-stacked automobiles. Land is dear in England, so companies like this one should be environment friendly of their use of area.
I discovered some attention-grabbing older equipment, together with this first-generation Suzuki Wagon R+, however most of these vehicles had been too inaccessible to permit the taking pictures of a correct Scrapyard Gem photograph set.
Naturally, I introduced alongside a 100-year-old British digital camera to doc my journey, on this case a London-made Houghton Ensign. Taking pictures bizarre ASA 50 movie with a primitive field digital camera in gloomy winter Yorkshire could be a problem for the junkyard photographer.
Lastly, I discovered this mysterious Hyundai with sufficient surrounding area to shoot images from all angles.
The Pininfarina badges bought me instantly. What is this factor?
It is a Matrix, the export-market model of the Hyundai Lavita. The Lavita was primarily based on the third-generation Elantra and was constructed for the 2001-2010 mannequin years.
Its wheelbase is much like that of its platform cousin, the Santa Fe, however its general size is greater than 18 inches shorter and its curb weight is a few half-ton lighter. Positive, it’s kind of funny-looking (regardless of Pininfarina’s finest efforts) and was out there in front-wheel-drive type solely, however there’s a really spectacular quantity of passenger and cargo area inside.
Two within the entrance, three within the again, a lot of cargo room behind the rear seats.
The MSRP for the U.Ok.-market ’06 Matrix 1.6 GSI was £10,995, or about £18,185 in in the present day’s kilos (that is $22,977 in 2024 U.S. {dollars}).
Three engines had been out there in 2006: a 1.5-liter turbodiesel with 101 horsepower/173 pound-feet, a 1.6-liter gasoline DOHC straight 4 with 102 horsepower/104 pound-feet and a 1.8-liter gasoline DOHC straight-four with 121 horsepower/119 pound-feet. This automotive has the 1.6, which was the most cost effective engine. Transmission alternative was between a four-speed automated and a five-speed guide; this automotive has the guide.
Pininfarina designed a minimum of one South Korean automotive that was bought in the US: the Suzuki Forenza (aka Daewoo Lacetti) sedan.
Enlarge your world.
The Lavita/Matrix was a superb vendor in locations with costly gas and slim streets.
Matrix manufacturing in South Korea ended after 2007, however continued for a number of extra years in Turkey.
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