Hyundai’s historical past is being celebrated at this yr’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. Practically 40 years after its debut on the Turin Motor Present, the Pony Coupe Idea, one of many South Korean producer’s most iconic prototypes, returns to Italy. Rebuilt by Giorgetto Giugiaro – the “father” of the unique idea – the Pony Coupe might be seen reside on Saturday, Might 20 on the shores of Lake Como on the prestigious motoring occasion.
The Delusion Comes Again To Life
The Pony was Hyundai’s first mass-produced automobile as an impartial producer, nevertheless it wasn’t the wedge-shaped idea featured right here. The worldwide financial disaster via the Nineteen Seventies did not supply a lot room for a glossy sports activities automobile, so in 1975 the Pony launched as a small four-door liftback. Nevertheless, the Pony Coupe Idea (which preceded it in 1974) survived in spirit via the years, influencing Hyundai’s design language in different areas.
The second-generation Pony (also referred to as the Excel) provided squared proportions in its compact four-door design. Just a few years later, the Hyundai Scoupe would undertake the Coupe Idea’s general form in a sports activities automobile design, albeit with rounded edges.
After all, the affect is seen most clearly in a few of Hyundai’s newer fashions just like the Ioniq 5, the place straight physique traces culminate in a truncated bottom. And naturally, there’s the N Imaginative and prescient 74, pulling direct inspiration from the Pony Coupe Idea with a retrotastic wedge physique that is modernized and infused with a hydrogen gasoline cell for energy. Sadly, the N Imaginative and prescient 74 – like the unique Pony Coupe – stays a one-off idea regardless of rumors on the contrary.
Minimalist Inside
Whereas consideration falls on the straight, easy traces of the outside, Hyundai additionally spent loads of time restoring the idea’s easy inside. The sports activities automobile offered at Villa d’Este encompasses a minimalist structure with nice consideration to type. Particulars just like the non-traditional gauges and single-spoke steering wheel characterize fashions of tomorrow from a distinctly Nineteen Seventies perspective. And it nonetheless carries a futuristic vibe even right now.
Due to the N Imaginative and prescient 74, the Pony Coupe Idea is again within the minds of the motoring public the place it may additional gasoline the creativity of Hyundai designers sooner or later. One such particular person is SangYup Lee, the current winner of the 2023 World Automotive Particular person of the Yr award.
As for future fashions, we’ll little doubt see Pony affect within the Ioniq 5 N, the sportiest model of the electrical crossover to be unveiled in July. And whereas Hyundai has crushed rumors of a production-spec N Imaginative and prescient 74, we stay in anticipation of upcoming fashions from the South Korean model.
