Hyundai Motor Company Participates in 'Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2023'

Hyundai Motor Company has embarked on promoting ‘Hyundai Heritage’ to luxury car enthusiasts at Italy’s representative classic car and concept car exhibition.

From the 19th to the 21st (local time), Hyundai Motor showcased the high-performance N brand’s hydrogen hybrid rolling lab, the ‘N Vision 74,’ at the world-renowned classic and concept car exhibition ‘Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2023’ held at Lake Como, Italy, the company announced on the 21st. A rolling lab refers to a vehicle used for research, development, and verification before applying high-performance technology, derived from motorsport know-how, to mass-produced models.

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun touring the site of the 'Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2023' event. Photo by Hyundai Motor Company

‘Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este,’ meaning ‘a contest of elegance held at Villa d’Este,’ is a prestigious classic and concept car exhibition that began in 1929 and is held annually in Italy. Exhibitions and competitions are held in categories including ▲classic cars ▲concept cars ▲motorcycles.

The Genesis brand participated in 2018, exhibiting the ‘Essentia Concept,’ while this is Hyundai Motor’s first participation.

The ‘N Vision 74’ was developed inspired by Hyundai’s first domestic concept car, the ‘Pony Coupe Concept,’ which was unveiled at the 1974 Turin Motor Show in Italy. It encompasses the passion and ‘bold spirit’ of Hyundai employees at the time who aimed to become a global brand with the ‘Pony Coupe Concept,’ integrating technology, design, and high-performance sensibility.

At the same time, the ‘N Vision 74’ embodies the future vision of the high-performance N brand, looking beyond electrification to what comes next. It carries the will to provide ‘driving pleasure’ even in the eco-friendly era. The most distinctive feature of the ‘N Vision 74’ is its ‘hybrid’ system combining a battery motor and hydrogen fuel cell. It maintains power output even in harsh motorsport environments and boasts a short charging time of about 5 minutes.

The front of the vehicle houses an 85kW-class hydrogen fuel cell stack. Between the driver and passenger seats is a 62kWh lithium-ion battery, and at the rear are two hydrogen tanks with a capacity of 2.1kg each. The independently mounted dual motors on the rear wheels produce 680 horsepower. The time to accelerate from a standstill to 100 km/h is under 4 seconds. The driving range approaches 600 km.

Luke Donckerwolke, Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of Hyundai Motor Group, said, “It is a great honor to participate in Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, symbolically representing the remarkable journey Hyundai has taken to arrive here. Hyundai will open the path to new forms of future mobility inspired by its unique heritage and stand at the center of design innovation.”

Lee Sang-yup, Vice President and Head of Hyundai Motor Design Center, explained, “It is an honor to participate in this prestigious event held in Italy, the starting point of design heritage, as we seek the foundation of Hyundai’s design DNA. The N Vision 74 is both a tribute to past efforts and a declaration toward the future, inheriting the bold spirit of the Pony Coupe Concept with futuristic design, realizing the dreams of engineers who aimed to create Korea’s first sports car.”

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