automobile news

Hyundai to bring back 1974 Pony concept with designer Giugiaro

Hyundai to bring back 1974 Pony concept with designer Giugiaro
Hyundai to bring back 1974 Pony concept with designer Giugiaro

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Company is collaborating with Giorgetto Giugiaro to revive the Pony Coupé concept, one of its earliest models built in 1974.

The news comes after the auto giant unveiled its N Vision 74 concept, a hydrogen fuel cell ‘rolling lab’ that was inspired by the 1974 model, earlier this year. However, the connection could not be directly celebrated as the original was thought to have been lost and scrapped in the late 1970s.

Now, Hyundai will be recreating the original car in collaboration with the model’s original designer, Giugiaro.

The Pony was the first car that the carmaker produced by itself; Hyundai had previously assembled Ford Cortinas under license.

During one of Giugiaro’s most prolific periods, the design was contracted to his ItalDesign and was supposed to have the same design as the Alfasud and the Mk1 Volkswagen Golf. 

However, Hyundai was keen to create a more exciting version for the Turin motor show in 1974 and ordered Giugiaro to make a coupé version of the hatchback that had the characteristic floorpan and mechanical package.

This resulted in a low, athletic-looking design that was similar to what buyers of that era were trained to associate modern sports cars with.

However, the concept did not make it to production due to certain difficulties in sourcing parts, and was dismissed soon after.

The idea was later recycled by Giugiaro and that resulted in the creation of the more popular Delorean DMC-12.

Now, the new car will be a replica of the original Pony Coupé concept, instead of a restomod, and built as a one-off for the automotive firm’s corporate collection. The concept is expected to be unveiled by spring 2023.

Additionally, it is suspected that Hyundai is actively considering future collaborations based on Giugiaro’s other works. The designer worked on exteriors for all Hyundai cars during the 1990s, so the two have much history.

Giugiaro, now 84 years old, revealed that Volkswagen originally planned to name Mk1 Golf as Volkswagen Pony, but lost to Hyundai as it launched first.

Source credit: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/hyundai-recruits-designer-giugiaro-recreate-1974-pony-concept

About the author

Saloni Walimbe

With an MBA-Marketing qualification under her belt, Saloni has always had a penchant for words, and holds two years of considerable experience as a content writer in the advertising field. She is currently following her passion for content creation by penning down insightful articles for theresearchprocess.com and a few other news websites.