Home » Cold Start: Hyundai Pony Coupe Concept Appreciation Thread

Cold Start: Hyundai Pony Coupe Concept Appreciation Thread

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For a good 10 years or so, Giorgetto Giugiaro had basically one move: angles. But dammit, it worked every single time, so can you blame him?

These days we know Hyundai’s in a bit of a renaissance, as is its corporate cousin Kia, in part because it’s poached so many great European car designers and performance-focused engineers. But it’s worth remembering that’s happened before as well.

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The 1974 Hyundai Pony Coupe Concept basically put Hyundai on the map as a global car company (albeit a tiny one that would take several more decades to ramp up its quality and become what it is today) and the company went to hungry up-and-comer Giugiaro to make it a memorable coming out party. This thing has been on my mind lately for some reason, but Jason also wrote a deeper dive into it last summer.

Photo: Hyundai

“I designed the Hyundai Pony when I was still a young designer at the start of my career,” Giugiaro later said. “I was tasked with creating a technically valid concept car targeting the middle class. I felt very proud that I was in charge of creating a production vehicle for a country that was about to face a fiercely competitive market.”

I really love that idea. It’s one thing to make another high-end exotic; it’s another thing entirely to add style and panache to the affordable-car market. Of course, Giugiaro had some experience in that area already, having penned the original Volkswagen Golf.
Photo credit: Italdesign
The Hyundai Pony Coupe Concept debuted at the 1974 Turin Motor Show and made waves at the time for the same reasons it still looks so amazing today. Of course, the production product wasn’t nearly as sexy:
Hyundai Pony 1975 Pictures 2 2
Photo: Hyundai
But hey, we all have to start somewhere. Sadly, however, the original concept disappeared at some point and may have even been crushed in the 1980s. Not all concept cars end up as museum pieces; a lot of them end up in warehouses (I’ve seen this myself) and many others aren’t even that lucky.
Today, the Pony Coupe Concept is getting its day on a lot of fronts, it seems. The Hyundai Ioniq 5—one of the best-looking cars on sale today, full stop—takes a ton of inspiration from that concept as well as the production Pony. So does the Concept N Vision 74, much more directly. We’re still hoping that hydrogen-electric sport coupe could become a reality someday, and if it does, we will rob banks until we can afford one.
Large 45968 2022ioniq5
Photo credit: Hyundai
Large 50461 Hyundaimotorsnbrandunveilstworollinglabconceptssignalinghigh Performancevisionforelectrificationera
Photo credit: Hyundai

Also, Hyundai is set to recreate this concept for the modern era with the help of Giugiaro, now an industry legend and highly respected veteran, and his son, Fabrizio. As Hagerty reported in 2022, apparently the Giugiaros and Hyundai design boss Luc Donckerwolke have been talking about doing this for years, and we should see it later this spring.

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It’s nice when automakers honor their history in a meaningful way, and this angular bad boy deserves its day in the sun. Will this new project be a way to hype a production-intent N Vision 74? One can certainly hope.

Photo credit: Hyundai

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Andy Individual
Andy Individual
1 year ago

If Hyundai released a scaled down Golf sized Ioniq5 (Ioniq3?) that would fit in my driveway, I would use my own damn money to put one in my driveway. That Ioniq5 is handsome and seems to be well thought out, it’s just too damn big.

Chris D
Chris D
1 year ago

Now we know where Elon got the idea for the CyberTruck.

Manwich Sandwich
Manwich Sandwich
1 year ago

Nice looking design… But I still remember the Hyundai Pony as it sold in Canada from 1984 to 1987.

It sold well… at first.

And then as people discovered they were total CRAP, sales fell dramatically and it was discontinued after 1987.

Personally drove a friends. It had a strange suspension setup where the front suspension was soft and the rear was unexpectedly firm.

So going over a speed bump felt like “thump… CRASH”

Plus they were not reliable or durable. The shit that would break on these was A LOT things that wouldn’t break on other cars… such as windshield wipers dying and a bunch of other things.

Israel Moore
Israel Moore
1 year ago

It’s too bad Ford’s lawyers fell flat on their faces in two cases involving past names. In the early 2000s, Ford neglected to renew its trademarks to the names “GT40” and “Futura”. South African kit car builder Safir Spares (aka GT40 Spares) grabbed G and
Pep Boys snatched Futura for a brand of in-house tires, and both offered to license the names to Ford-for a steep price. Ford instead renamed its resurected supercar “GT” and called its new family sedan the “Five Hundred.”

Mark Tucker
Mark Tucker
1 year ago

The Giugiaro folded-paper designs really do hold up, don’t they? My favorite will always be the first-generation VW Scirocco, but this one is right up there.

Greg Franklin
Greg Franklin
1 year ago

I saw the Hyundai concept at CIAS, I would do terrible, disgusting heinous things to own one. It’s just as good in person.

LAX4THEWIN
LAX4THEWIN
1 year ago

How is it that in the year of our lord 2023 we still can’t buy a car that honest, simple and retrofuturistic for a decent price? Restomod DeLoreans costing >$100k don’t count.

Flyingstitch
Flyingstitch
1 year ago

I like the honesty of the Pony concept, sitting on (for that time) normal size wheels. Even with all its exuberance, you could still imagine seeing it on the road.

Jakob K's Garage
Jakob K's Garage
1 year ago

Too bad the production model Pony got that ridiculous short wheelbase for a 5 door hatchback. Looks almost like a Morris Marina.

Citrus
Citrus
1 year ago

Funny thing, they hired a bunch of British Leyland engineers to work on it. Engineers who worked on the Marina…

Tifrim
Tifrim
1 year ago

In my view, the Pony 2 was closer to the concept design. I had a brown/gold 85 in Canada and loved the thing despite it’s total lack of interior creature comforts (no cupholders?!)

Jblues
Jblues
1 year ago

I don’t see how someone can praise this design while simultaneously calling the Cybertruck hideous. (cue up the “it’s the same picture” meme here)

OverlandingSprinter
OverlandingSprinter
1 year ago
Reply to  Jblues

As Adrian might say, the devil’s in the details.

Paul B
Paul B
1 year ago
Reply to  Jblues

Similarities=/=similar.

Mr Sarcastic
Mr Sarcastic
1 year ago
Reply to  Jblues

I am getting Back to the Future vibes from this child of a DeLorean and Nissan Pulsar

Rusty S Trusty
Rusty S Trusty
1 year ago
Reply to  Jblues

“That except bigger and a pickup truck,” said no one ever.
Oh, right….. Sorry, I guess.

A. Barth
A. Barth
1 year ago

The concept model appears to be the love child of a Renault Fuego and a DeLorean.

This is not a bad thing, btw.

Thomas Metcalf
Thomas Metcalf
1 year ago
Reply to  A. Barth

With a bit of Lotus Esprit thrown in.

William Domer
William Domer
1 year ago
Reply to  A. Barth

At first glance it reminded me of Melon’s Cybertr(f)uck and I had to turn away.

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
1 year ago

I thought Hyundai should have resurrected the Pony name for what became the Santa Cruz (hate that name). Ponies are tough little working horses (ask a Welsh miner) and they can be fun little trail mounts to get you off the beaten track. The advertising possibilities are endless.

Man With A Reliable Jeep
Man With A Reliable Jeep
1 year ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

That would’ve been the perfect foil to the Maverick (as cattle).

NephewOfBaconator
NephewOfBaconator
1 year ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

Pony’s not a bad name, but Hyundai/Kia seem to be into Spanish-derived city names from the American West: Sedona, Santa Fe, Tucson, Telluride. So Santa Cruz fits in there. On, the other hand, I’m surprised the Venue and Seltos didn’t get named the Fresno and the Alamosa or something like that.

Except sometimes they just make up stuff like Stinger or Veloster … and sometimes they go alphanumeric like EV6 or IONIQ5…

So really, who knows what Hyundai/Kia is doing in the naming department? ????

Brandon Flater
Brandon Flater
1 year ago

Stinger is a made up word?? News to me. That’s been a word my entire life

Man With A Reliable Jeep
Man With A Reliable Jeep
1 year ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

Dammnit, rootwyrm, with your logic and copyright law.

Israel Moore
Israel Moore
1 year ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

It’s too bad Ford’s lawyers fell flat on their faces in two cases involving past names. In the early 2000s, Ford neglected to renew its trademarks to the names “GT40” and “Futura”. South African kit car builder Safir Spares (aka GT40 Spares) grabbed G and
Pep Boys snatched Futura for a brand of in-house tires, and both offered to license the names to Ford-for a steep price. Ford instead renamed its resurected supercar “GT” and called its new family sedan the “Five Hundred.”

Thomas Metcalf
Thomas Metcalf
1 year ago
Reply to  Israel Moore

Yeah, Futura is a dumb name anyways. The moment the car is released, it is not futuristic.

Double Wide Harvey Park
Double Wide Harvey Park
1 year ago
Reply to  Israel Moore

Gibson created a guitar named the Futura in the late 1950s.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Futura

Manwich Sandwich
Manwich Sandwich
1 year ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

I don’t think that holds water given that there as a “Hyundai Pony” on sale in Canada, Europe and other places for years.

Citrus
Citrus
1 year ago

Canada and the US have completely different copyright and trademark systems, and what applies in one doesn’t necessarily apply in the other. You have to apply for – and maintain – copyrights and trademarks in every nation individually.

This is also why the band Bush had to call themselves Bush X initially because they needed to reach a deal with the other band Bush before they could release music without the X. I believe this is also the reason that The Avengers is known as Avengers Assemble in the UK, and why Zootopia is sometimes known as Zootropolis – a Danish zoo had already registered Zootopia in Europe.

Thomas Metcalf
Thomas Metcalf
1 year ago
Reply to  Citrus

I moved from the US to Canada around 2003 and the whole Bush vs BushX confused the hell out of me.

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
1 year ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

I’ve no doubt Ford would be litigious, but I’ve looked at all 965 of Ford’s registered trademarks and pending trademark applications currently on file with the US Patent and Trademark Office and “pony” wasn’t on the list, so not certain how successful it would be in securing rights to the name (ignoring the fact that Ford could outspend most competitors in a lawsuit and tie up the courts with motions for decades).

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
1 year ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

Yeah , I saw both the Hyundai listings in TESS, too. Just curious as to why Ford seems to have trademarked everything except “pony,” but not that.

Pappa P
Pappa P
1 year ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

I think you’re forgetting that the Pony was a terrible car that gave Hyundai a reputation which took years to shake. This is also why the Excel will never come back.
Sorry to the Pony enthusiasts out there.

Brandon Flater
Brandon Flater
1 year ago
Reply to  Pappa P

You are not wrong, but at the same time they were infinitely charming little cars. The
pony was never around in the USA, but here in the land of maple syrup, poutine and politeness, we not only had them, but they were the best selling car in Canada for 1985. They even held a full 10% share of all new cars in the country the same year. Nobody bought them because they thought they would be super reliable, but they were practical and stylish enough to become important cars in one of the largest and most challenging climates in the world for cars. Honestly that’s got to count for something. I had a good friend that had one in high school in the late 90’s and not only did it stand out in an ocean of Cavaliers and Civics, it also provided lots of opportunity to build wrenching skill on a budget because the parts were at least half the price of dirt, maybe less.

Man With A Reliable Jeep
Man With A Reliable Jeep
1 year ago

Stop, I can only get so erect.

Manuel Verissimo
Manuel Verissimo
1 year ago

Dammit Krieger!

Dodsworth
Dodsworth
1 year ago

It’s Y-Y-ZED!

10001010
10001010
1 year ago

“…and if it does, we will rob banks until we can afford one.”

We should coordinate who’s hitting which banks now so we don’t double up. That would just look unprofessional.

Jack Beckman
Jack Beckman
1 year ago
Reply to  10001010

And while you guys are robbing the banks, someone else is stealing your Hyundai with a USB cable.

William Domer
William Domer
1 year ago
Reply to  Jack Beckman

It is why we have insurance LOL.

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