Leatherhead, 19th May 2023 – Hyundai Motor Company today celebrated the restoration of the Pony Coupe Concept car during the inaugural Hyundai Reunion held at historic Villa Pliniana in Lake Como, Italy.
The event brought together former and present Hyundai engineers and designers to commemorate the previously announced restoration of the 1974 concept car that led to the creation of the brand’s Pony line-up, Korea’s first independently developed mass-production models.
Hyundai Motor collaborated with Italian design firm GFG Style, notably its father and son founders Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro to rebuild the influential 1974 Pony Coupe Concept that young Giorgetto created for Hyundai’s debut at the 1974 Turin Motor Show.
At the event, Hyundai Motor also showcased its N Vision 74 concept, which was inspired by the Pony Coupe Concept. These two vehicles represent a shared lineage between the company’s past and future, illustrating the continuation of its ambition to be innovative and daring.
“Despite the poor industrial environment in the 1970s, my grandfather and Hyundai’s Founding Chairman Ju-young Chung poured his heart and soul into rebuilding Korea’s economy and improving the lives of its people after the devastating Korean War. He finally realized his vision of making Korea a country capable of developing its own vehicles with perfection,” said Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group. “I express my sincere gratitude to everyone from both Italy and Korea who played a critical role in the success of Pony.”
Hyundai Reunion, a heritage brand platform that reflects on Hyundai Motor’s past and its future direction, has brought together all the designers and engineers involved on N Vision 74 and the original Pony Coupe Concept, including Giorgetto Giugiaro and former Hyundai Motor President Chung Goo Lee, for the celebration.
“In the age of electrification, a key condition for Hyundai Motor Company to become a leader in future mobility will be our ability to remain faithful to the unshakable values we inherited,” said Jaehoon Chang, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company. “Moving forward, through Hyundai Reunion and other heritage communication initiatives, we will continue to leverage our past as a unique vector for our future innovation.”
Hyundai Motor introduced the original Pony Coupe Concept at the 1974 Turin Motor Show, which was a major international auto show at the time. The two-door sports car’s exterior featured a sleek roofline, pure surfaces, dynamic proportion profiles and a unique shape for the B pillar, which elevated its daring spirit. The interior showcased an iconic sensibility with the Giugiaro monocoque design and driver-centered floating architecture.
With its unique aesthetic sensibility, the 1974 Pony Coupe Concept was a groundbreaking model in its time. Unfortunately, due to the adverse global economic conditions in the late 1970s, what could have been Hyundai’s first sensational sports car was unable to reach commercial production and was lost to history. Nevertheless, the concept helped awaken an appreciation for innovative design principles at the company during its early days, and so it has served as a significant influence on the design direction of its current and future endeavors.
The 1974 Pony Coupe Concept embodied Hyundai’s Founding Chairman Ju-yung Chung’s desire to create a ‘high-performance sports car’ at a time when Hyundai didn’t yet possess the capability to design or develop a model on its own. Eventually, the ambition for Hyundai to export automobiles to developed countries, invigorate the Korean economy and improve the standard of living for Koreans materialized. Nearly half a century after the concept’s debut, the first Hyundai Reunion paid tribute to both the original Pony Coupe Concept and Italy, celebrating the human-centered innovation that has, and still is driving Hyundai Motor’s endeavors.
Pony Coupe-inspired N Vision 74 to compete in a concept car competition
Hyundai Motor plans to enter its N Vision 74 at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, one of the world’s top three classic and concept car competitions, from May 19 to 21. The N Vision 74 will compete in the Concept Cars and Prototype category based on its design heritage on a global stage.
The N Vision 74, which debuted to great acclaim in 2022, is more than an ordinary concept car. It is Hyundai N’s hydrogen-hybrid ‘Rolling Lab’ development vehicle. Its design was inspired by the 1974 Pony Coupe Concept and it embodies the company’s future vision for clean mobility. N Vision 74 boasts some of the company’s most advanced technologies, featuring left and right independent dual motors on the rear wheels, a power output of 680 PS and acceleration of less than 4 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h. Power is provided by an 85 kW hydrogen fuel cell stack on the front, a 62 kWh lithium-ion battery between the driver and the passenger, and two 2.1 kg hydrogen tanks on the rear to provide a driving distance of nearly 600 km.
This unique concept model has already garnered widespread praise for its retro-futuristic design and innovative fuel cell-hybrid architecture, including the 2022 TopGear.com Awards’ ‘Instant Icon’ accolade.
