Hyundai has rebuilt its first automobile: meet the new-old Pony Coupe Idea

This isn’t the very first Hyundai. For that, you’ll be able to look to the then-fledgling carmaker’s collaboration with Ford again in 1967 assembling the Cortina at its Ulsan manufacturing unit in South Korea.

However it’s the very first Hyundai, as a result of it’s the idea that impressed the primary manufacturing automobile constructed by the South Korean big. The whole lot you see in the present day – legions of i10s, i20s, i30s, Ioniqs, Santa Fes, Tucsons and extra – stems from this humble little two-door hatchback.

Nicely, sorta. The one-off Pony Coupe Idea unveiled on the 1974 Turin Motor present was misplaced to the sands of time, so Hyundai has rebuilt it from scratch, to its precise 1974 spec, utilizing 1974 supplies, with the assistance of the person who initially designed it. An Italian artist who goes by the title ‘Giorgetto Giugiaro’.

“I used to be sceptical at first as a result of I didn’t know Hyundai Motor on the time,” GG stated about his preliminary correspondence with Hyundai again within the early Seventies. “We had been all impressed by the fervour and dedication of the Hyundai engineers. They had been sharp, curious, open and intensely desirous to study.”

Sharp. Might use that to explain a big chunk of Giugiaro’s sensational output, the unique 1974 Pony Coupe Idea – and now this rebirth – following his then design maxims. There’s a basic wedge-shaped silhouette, clear, unburnished and assured strains, that ‘cut-off’ hatchback rear therapy. Very minimalist. Very Giugiaro.

Identical story on the within, too. There’s a fairly fantastic driver-orientated floating dashboard association that includes a single-spoke steering wheel and a correctly retro analogue show.

In the event you’re struggling to dimension it, it broadly mirrors a contemporary Ford Fiesta’s size, however is a tad slimmer and decrease than that automobile. So it’s mainly tiny. Ditto the powertrain. In contrast to Hyundai’s restomodded ‘Heritage Collection Pony’ from a few years in the past – a automobile that wore the Pony’s strains however featured an up to date digital inside and electrical drivetrain – this one’s as per 1974.

Which suggests it will get 1974 mainstream automobile ranges of oomph. There’s a 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine up entrance, delivering a heady 81bhp (at 6,000rpm) to the rear wheels. There isn’t a 0-62mph time given, as a result of… why.

“The restoration of this distinctive automobile is a milestone in Hyundai’s historical past,” stated artistic boss Luc Donckerwolke (sure, he who designed the Audi A2, Lambo Murcielago and Gallardo). “It serves as a legacy for generations to come back.”

A sentiment mirrored by Hyundai’s govt chair Euisun Chung, who bears a private connection to this automobile. “Regardless of the poor industrial atmosphere within the Nineteen Seventies, my grandfather and Hyundai’s founding chairman Ju-young Chung poured his coronary heart and soul into rebuilding Korea’s financial system and bettering the lives of its individuals after the devastating Korean Warfare.

“He lastly realised his imaginative and prescient of creating Korea a rustic able to growing its personal automobiles with perfection,” he added.

This reborn Pony – unveiled in Lake Como on the 2023 Villa d’Este concours – is a part of the corporate’s international heritage mission named ‘Hyundai Reunion’. And Hyundai desires to ‘develop’ this platform, so watch this house…