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| Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, left, poses with Hyundai Motor's Pony, designed by him, with Luc Donckerwolke, center, chief creative officer of Hyundai Motor Group, and Lee Sang-yup, senior vice president of Hyundai Motor and head of Hyundai Global Center at Hyundai Motor's R&D center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Hyundai Motor is celebrating its legacy by introducing a new project to rebuild its original Pony Coupe Concept car as presented at the 1974 Turin Motor Show, the company said Thursday.
The Pony Coupe Concept was designed by Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, who is cooperating with the company almost 50 years later to restore the concept car. Though the concept model was unveiled at the motor show, it never reached the mass production stage and Hyundai Motor actually seemed to have misplaced the car for unknown reasons and could no longer locate it.
The Italian designer had worked with the Korean company for a long time, designing the Pony, Hyundai Motor's first independent production model that was produced from 1975 to 1990, and other car models such as the Pony Excel, the Presto, the Stellar and the first two generations of the Sonata.
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| The concept version of Hyundai Motor's Pony Coupe, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. Hyundai Motor said Thursday that Giugiaro would participate in a project to restore the concept car. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group |
To rebuild the Pony Coupe Concept car, Hyundai Motor said it will collaborate with GFG Style, an Italian design company founded by Giugiaro, now 84. Hyundai Motor said the concept model had a great influence in car design and it expects the company can rebuild its legacy through the restoration project.
"The original Pony and Pony Coupe Concept were one of those rare creations that influenced the designs of not just one but multiple production and concept vehicles, including our award-winning IONIQ 5 and attention-grabbing N Vision 74," said Lee Sang-yup, senior vice president of Hyundai Motor and head of Hyundai Global Design Center.
"Since the original concept car no longer exists, we've commissioned Giorgetto Giugiaro to rebuild it based on our design philosophy, 'Shaping the future with legacy.'"
The restoration project is also planned to shed light on Chung Ju-yung, the automotive group's founding chairman who tried to contribute to the development of the Korean economy by developing the group's own car model.
"The Pony Coupe Concept remains a key part of Hyundai's legacy and hallmark of founding Chairman Chung Ju-Yung's vision for the company," a company spokesman said. "With the Pony Coupe Concept and subsequent Pony lineup, Chung paved the way for Korea's automotive industry with his positive mindset, bold leadership, firm belief and indomitable diligence. His leadership helped Korea emerge from the hardship of war to become an economic powerhouse by the late 20th century."
For the project, Giugiaro visited Hyundai Motor's R&D center in Yongin, south of Seoul. On his original design, Giugiaro said, "I designed the Hyundai Pony when I was still a young designer at the start of my career. I felt very proud that I was in charge of creating a vehicle for a company and country that was about to take on a fiercely competitive global market. Now, I'm deeply honored that Hyundai has asked me to rebuild it for posterity and as a celebration of the brand's heritage."
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