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Hyundai teamed up with legendary Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro to recreate the original 1974 Hyundai Pony Coupe Concept, an iconic show car designed by Giugiaro and which helped lay the groundwork for the arrival of the Pony sedan a year later, South Korea’s first self-developed mass car. -manufactured cars
The concept was one of five designs Giugiaro made for Hyundai in the early 1970s as part of a government challenge to develop a South Korean car to be launched in 1975 (previously Korean automakers were building cars from foreign automakers).
While the sedan body style was chosen as the winner, a production version of the Pony Coupe Concept would follow but the project was halted in 1981 due to the economic crisis. However, the wedge shape of the car would live on in another Giugiaro design: the DeLorean DMC 12 which debuted in 1983.
Despite its significance, the original Pony Coupe Concept is no longer around. Hyundai hasn’t said exactly what happened to it, but the automaker has reinvented it in preparation for the 50th anniversary of its original unveiling at the 1974 Turin auto show. The concept is powered by an 82-hp 1.2-liter inline-4. The engine is mounted longitudinally, and the drive is sent to the rear wheels via a manual transmission.
The recreation was made official Thursday at the inaugural Hyundai Reunion, which took place on Italy’s Lake Como. The event is described as a “legacy brand platform” that serves as a way to preserve Hyundai’s spirit and values as the automaker transitions into a world of electric mobility.
Also present were Giugiaro and his son Fabrizio. The two Giugiaros, who worked on the recreation, today run design firm GFG Style, which they founded after selling their remaining stake in their former design firm, Italdesign Giugiaro, to the Volkswagen Group in 2015.
The collaboration between Hyundai and GFG Style could go beyond recreations of the Pony Coupe Concept, according to Luc Donckerwolke, chief creative officer of Hyundai Motor Group.
“This project not only has historical value, but also represents a cross-cultural exchange that could pave the way for more collaborations in the future,” he said when the project was first announced last fall.
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