1974 Hyundai Pony Coupé Concept Brought Back To Life For Villa d’Este

The original 49 year old Hyundai Pony Coupé Concept has been recreated.

Hyundai may not be the oldest car company but with the Chinese car brands fast approaching, it’s probably time for some brand building. Nearly 50 years after the debut of their original Pony Coupé Concept, Hyundai have rebuilt it for display at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

The original concept was shown at the 1974 Turin Motor Show and was penned by Giugiaro. According to the Italian design house, they were skeptical when Hyundai approached as they were unknown at the time. However, the passion and commitment shown by Hyundai engineers convinced them to take on the project.

The restoration was completed by GFG Style, where Giorgetto Giugiaro and his son Fabrizio currently lend their talents. The Pony Coupé Concept inspired the design of the Hyundai Pony, which ended up being Korea’s first independently developed mass-production model. A new Hyundai Reunion brand has been created to celebrate the brand’s heritage and past successes.

“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.”

For better or worse, the Pony Coupé itself never went into production due to the 1970s Oil Crisis as well as perhaps some of Hyundai’s own limitations at the time. That being said the Pony Coupé Concept today still serves a very relevant role at Hyundai, inspiring the designs for the N Vision 74, ’45’ EV Concept Car and of course, the ultra-successful IONIQ 5.

“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.”