Italian Design Master Restores 'Pony Coupe'

Hyundai's Early Model Designer
Italian Giorgetto Giugiaro Visits Korea... Collaboration on Restoration Project

At the Design Talk event, (from left) Giorgetto Giugiaro, Hyundai Motor Group CCO Vice President Luc Donckerwolke, and Hyundai Design Center Head Vice President Lee Sang-yup are posing. Photo by Hyundai Motor Group

[Yongin=Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] "I received a request from the founder of Hyundai (Chung Ju-yung, Honorary Chairman of Hyundai Group) to ‘design a car for Hyundai. However, it must be capable of mass production.’ Honestly, I was taken aback. But then, after hearing that Hyundai had built a large ship in Ulsan within three years, I truly felt their strong determination."

Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro (84) visited Korea. As the designer of Korea’s first independently produced car, the Pony, he has started a project to faithfully restore the Pony Coupe concept, which Hyundai first unveiled in 1974. Having worked at automotive design firms and designed numerous iconic cars, he is regarded as one of the greatest car designers of the 20th century.

On the 24th, at Hyundai Motor Group’s Mabuk Campus in Yongin, Giugiaro recalled the time of the Pony’s development. He said, "Even nowadays things progress quickly, but back then, there weren’t many researchers involved in vehicle development, so everything could be decided rapidly," adding, "I believe Hyundai engineers performed a miraculous feat in creating the product."

Born in 1938, Giugiaro is the founder and CEO of the Italian design company GFG Style. Starting with the designs of the Pony and Pony Coupe, he also designed many early Hyundai models such as the Pony Excel, Presto, Stella, and the first and second generations of the Sonata. In 1999, he was recognized by automotive journalists worldwide as the ‘Best Car Designer of the 20th Century’ for his profound impact on the automotive industry. In 2002, he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.

Hyundai Motor Company, together with GFG Style, has decided to restore the Pony Coupe concept and plans to unveil it for the first time next spring. The Pony Coupe concept, which Hyundai showcased alongside the Pony?the first independently produced model?at the 1974 Turin Motor Show in Italy, attracted global automotive industry attention with its wedge-shaped nose, round headlamps, and geometric lines reminiscent of origami. Giugiaro has previously revealed that the DeLorean DMC-12, featured in the movie ‘Back to the Future,’ was based on the Pony Coupe.

Hyundai explained, "This restoration project was prepared to revisit the export-driven spirit of our late Chairman Chung Ju-yung, who wished to develop automobiles into a core national export industry through the Pony’s development, and to reflect on the passion of the employees at the time who aimed to advance as a global brand with the Pony Coupe."

Giugiaro expressed, "During the time I designed the Pony, I was proud to take on the challenge of the fiercely competitive global automotive market alongside Korea and Hyundai Motor Company’s design team," adding, "I am very honored to contribute to the Pony Coupe concept restoration project, which celebrates Hyundai’s brand heritage."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.