Hyundai has announced that it will collaborate with Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro’s Italian design studio GFG Style to rebuilt the historic 1974 Pony Coupe Concept, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro for Hyundai’s debut at the 1974 Turin Motor Show. The reconstructed concept car will be unveiled next spring, probably in Italy. Hyundai first unveiled the project during a Design Talk in Seoul that featured Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro together with Luc Donckerwolke – Chief Creative Officer of Hyundai Motor Group – and SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai Motor’s Global Design Center.
“We are thrilled to welcome Giorgetto and Fabrizio to Seoul for this precious occasion and look forward to collaborating with them and GFG Style on this extraordinary design project. This is an initiative that has historical value and represents an intercultural exchange that could pave the way for further collaborations in the future”, Luc Donckerwolke said during the talk.
With the Pony Coupé Concept and the subsequent production Ponies, Hyundai’s founder paved the way for the Korean automotive industry in the 1970s. The design of the Hyundai Pony Coupé Concept was also a great source of inspiration for Giugiaro’s work on the DeLorean DMC 12. The impact of the Pony and Pony Coupé Concept is still tangible. In 2019, Hyundai drew inspiration from it for the ’45’ concept car, which then directly influenced the Ioniq 5, unveiled two years later. In 2021, the Korean manufacturer reinterpreted the original production Pony as the basis for an electric restomod, while in 2022 came the hydrogen-powered N Vision 74 sports car (Cover story on Auto&Design no. 257).
