A 3-door hatchback joins the redesigned 4-door sedan, which was introduced in 2006. The hatchback will be offered in entry-level GS and SE models. Both have front-seat-mounted side air bags and roof-mounted side curtain air bags, and the SE has a sport-tuned suspension and standard anti-lock brakes.

Inexpensive entry-level cars have been a key part of Korean automaker Hyundai's strategy, luring first-time buyers into the Hyundai family. High gas prices have put a new emphasis on the subcompact market, and the venerable Accent enters 2007 facing new rivals from several mainstream Japanese manufacturers, including the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, and Nissan Versa. But with a new version hot off the steel presses, Hyundai's timing couldn't be better.

What do these have in common? They were $%& boxes each and every one. Even esteemed names like "Civic" were crappy in their early iterations. Through the 1970s and '80s these cars could be observed rusting into oblivion, and blowing clouds of oil smoke as they strained to achieve highway speeds before getting run over by semis and fuel-swilling V-8-powered Detroit lead sleds. (Please save your indignantly rose-colored e-mails?these cars did offer, albeit rarely, new technologies and driving grins. The author put over 120,000 miles on an Omni GLH-S, so he knows.)

What we have for evaluation today is the 2007 Hyundai Accent SE. It is most certainly not a piece of junk. Our fresh example sported no rust and refused to blow any blue smoke. As a matter of fact, this little car pushed everything we knew about cheap cars right off the shelf and into the trash can. This is what to think about the inexpensive Accent SE: It's solid, eager, nicely equipped, cute, practical, and pretty sporty.