'From Pony to N Coupe'... Hyundai Car History Documentary Made by Chef's Table Director

Hyundai Motor Company announced on the 13th that it has released a documentary series titled 'The Great Heritage?Car,' which highlights the brand's design heritage and philosophy, through the online video streaming service (OTT) Wavve.

This documentary is part of Hyundai's recently promoted Design Heritage Project. It was planned to shed light on how Hyundai's design philosophy has been inherited and developed alongside customer-centric values.

Produced as a five-part series with a total runtime of 350 minutes, this documentary is an extensive record encompassing the past, present, and future of Hyundai's design.

The film is directed by Lee Wook-jung, who is known for directing famous documentaries such as Noodle Road and Cooked Human. After more than two years of production, it was completed through collaboration with various departments within Hyundai, including research and development and marketing.

Still cuts from Hyundai Motor Company's design heritage documentary 'Great Legacy - Automobile'. Provided by Hyundai Motor Company.

The first episode released, titled 'A Missing Pony,' focuses for 70 minutes on the restoration process of the Pony Coupe concept, a symbol of Hyundai's design heritage, and the design development process of the 'N Vision 74,' which was born inheriting this legacy.

The documentary depicts the process where Giorgetto Giugiaro, the legendary Italian designer known as the designer of Hyundai's first mass-produced model, the Pony, collaborates with designers from Hyundai's Namyang Research Center Design Studio to restore the Pony Coupe concept.

It then cross-cuts to show Hyundai designers designing the high-performance hydrogen hybrid rolling lab 'N Vision 74' based on the DNA of the Pony Coupe concept. Through this, it illustrates how the design of one era leads to another innovation.

Still cuts from Hyundai Motor Company's design heritage documentary 'Great Legacy - Automobile'. Provided by Hyundai Motor Company.

In the upcoming four episodes, Hyundai plans to cover ▲the process where automotive interior and exterior design merges with engineering ▲global design collaboration and testing sites ▲Hyundai's challenges toward future mobility, including hydrogen electric concept cars and wearable robots.

This documentary is characterized by its sincere attempt to convey the realistic concerns and challenges within Hyundai's design development process, which have not been specifically revealed until now.

To achieve this, narration is minimized, and a realistic directing technique portraying the perspective of outsiders is applied. This allows viewers to indirectly experience the designers' struggles during the process of design realization.

A Hyundai official stated, "Through this documentary, we aimed not only to highlight design heritage but also to emphasize creative collaboration and the spirit of challenge in the vehicle development process," adding, "It will serve as an opportunity to spread empathy for Hyundai's customer-centric philosophy and brand identity."

Hyundai Motor Design Heritage Documentary 'Great Legacy - Automobile' Poster. Provided by Hyundai Motor Company

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