The Daewoo Maepsy (대우 맵시) is a
compact car
Compact car is a vehicle size class — predominantly used in North America — that sits between subcompact cars and mid-size cars. "Small family car" is a British term and a part of the C-segment in the European car classification. However, p ...
manufactured by
Daewoo
Daewoo ( ; Hangul: , Hanja: , ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerat ...
(and its predecessor
Saehan) in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
from December 1977 to 1989. The Maepsy was a
badge engineered
In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a manu ...
version of the
Opel Kadett
The Opel Kadett is a small family car produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel from 1936 until 1940 and then from 1962 until 1991 (the Cabrio continued until 1993), when it was succeeded by the Opel Astra.
Kadett I (1936–1940)
...
C, or to be more precise, of the PF50
Isuzu Gemini
The Isuzu Gemini is a subcompact car produced by the Japanese automaker Isuzu from 1974 until 2000. The same basic product was built and/or sold under several other names, sometimes by other General Motors brands, in various markets around the wo ...
. Originally the car was sold as the Saehan Gemini (Saehan Bird in export markets), but in February 1982 the car evolved to become the Saehan Maepsy. By 1983 it was called the Daewoo Maepsy after Saehan Motor was bought out by the
Daewoo Group
Daewoo ( ; Hangul: , Hanja: , ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerat ...
, and finally the Daewoo Maepsy-Na (''New Maepsy'', 맵시나). The word "maepsy" means "beautiful" in Korean.
The original Gemini was equipped with a 1492 cc imported four-cylinder engine. Power was at 5,400 rpm, for a claimed top speed of . This imported engine made the car rather expensive, however, and when the
Hyundai Pony
The Hyundai Pony (Hangul: 현대 포니), is a small rear wheel drive automobile produced by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai from 1975 until 1990. The Pony was South Korea's first mass-produced and exported car. The Pony nameplate remained ...
was introduced Saehan's market share dropped precipitously. A measure of popularity was retained as the Gemini was the only compact car in South Korea with an available automatic transmission.
In 1981, in an attempt at consolidating the South Korean transportation industry which had been hard hit by the 1980 recession, the new military dictatorship of
Chun Doo-hwan
Chun Doo-hwan (; or ; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean Republic of Korea Army, army general and military dictator who ruled as an unelected Political strongman, strongman from 1979 to 1980 before replacing Choi Kyu-hah ...
forced
Kia
Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...
to give up production of its
Brisa and focus entirely on light trucks. In return, Saehan and Hyundai had to give up this segment of the market, while a planned merger of the two did not come to fruition. Not only did these changes allow Saehan a bigger share of the market, but they were also able to use the domestically built 1.3-liter (
Mazda TC) engine that Kia no longer had any use for, which lowered the price of the new Maepsy considerably. The facelifted Saehan Maepsy was introduced in February 1982, with the 1.3-liter engine using
LPG and producing (SAE) for a top speed of . The 1.5-liter model claimed (SAE) but somehow had a slightly lower top speed of ( for the automatic).
In 1983, the name was changed to Daewoo Maepsy.
In September 1983, for the 1984 model year, the car received another facelift, with bigger rectangular headlamps, becoming the Maepsy-Na in the process. The rear was also changed, echoing the design of the 1979
Isuzu Gemini
The Isuzu Gemini is a subcompact car produced by the Japanese automaker Isuzu from 1974 until 2000. The same basic product was built and/or sold under several other names, sometimes by other General Motors brands, in various markets around the wo ...
. The ''XQ'' engine was built by Daewoo from April 1984 and installed in the Maepsy beginning in September, meaning that Kia's 1.3-liter version was retired. Claimed power for the earlier 1.5 was now only as South Korea had switched to using
DIN ratings, but when the XQ arrived Daewoo once again used SAE gross and claimed . Between 1982 and 1989, 400,000 Maepsys and Maepsy-Nas were built.
Production of the regular sedan ended in July 1986 when the Racer/LeMans was introduced although a version intended for taxi usage continued to be produced until 1989 as the "Daewoo Maepsy Sigma."
Saehan/Daewoo Max
A
pickup truck
A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...
version was also offered initially as the Saehan Max and later as the Daewoo Max from August 1979 to 1988. These have the 1.5-liter four, although Opel's 2-liter diesel engine became available in May 1980. These were exported to Greece as the "Saehan Max 850" (reflecting the max load capacity), but in 1980 the importer went bankrupt in part due to new, more stringent European rules being introduced in Greece. 220 leftover trucks (cabins without beds) were left in a customs area in Athens. After a number of years they were bought by a Norwegian entrepreneur and sold in Norway at rock bottom prices, in spite of much resistance from other local importers.
In December 1981 a three-way bed was introduced, and in January 1983 the name was changed to Daewoo Max. The Max used the original Gemini front even as the Maepsy's new bodywork was introduced in 1982, but the 1984 facelift was applied to the Max as well. Beginning in November 1984 the 1.5-liter XQ engine was installed in the Max as well. The Max ended production in 1988 without a successor.
References
{{GM Daewoo timeline
Maepsy
Cars introduced in 1977
1980s cars
First car made by manufacturer