Hyundai Motor goes back to basics in Pony exhibition

The return of the Pony Coupe is a significant event for Hyundai Motor, with the automaker taking the opportunity to reflect on its path moving forward.

The restored Pony Coupe, right, and the N Vision 74 are on display at the “Pony, the timeless” exhibition in southern Seoul. N Vision 74 is a concept sports car that was inspired by the design of the Pony Coupe. [NEWS1]

The return of the Pony Coupe is a significant event for Hyundai Motor, with the automaker taking the opportunity to reflect on its path moving forward.

The “Pony, the timeless” exhibition, opening on Friday, sees both the Pony Coupe itself and the historical records documenting the development process for Pony, Korea’s first independently developed mass-production model, go on display at Hyundai Motorstudio Seoul in southern Seoul.

The exhibition will be where the restored Pony Coupe makes its debut in Korea, after a world premiere in Lake Como, Italy, on May 19, nearly five decades after the line was first introduced.

“In an age when artificial intelligence and robotics have a profound impact on the way we live and work, we wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on the core purpose of the company and the direction of our future,” Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung said during an opening celebration Wednesday.

“In seeking the answer, we looked back at our roots and realized that Hyundai Motor was shaped by the experience and mindset that we accumulated while developing the Pony.”

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung speaks during an opening ceremony of the “Pony, the timeless” exhibition in southern Seoul on Wednesday. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Founded in 1967, Hyundai Motor was a subcontractor without the capabilities to design or develop a car. Instead, it assembled other companies’ lines, such as Ford's Cortina sedans, based on their technologies.

It was only in 1973 that Hyundai Group's late founder, Chung Ju-yung, sent a letter to Italian car designer Giorgetto Glugiaro asking him to design Hyundai’s first car under its own name.

The Pony was even named by the Korean public, with Hyundai running a naming contest during which around 58,000 potential names were submitted.

The Pony is on display at the exhibition [SARAH CHEA]

The rear of the Pony [SARAH CHEA]

The car made its debut at the 1974 Turin Motor Show, and Hyundai sold a total of 24,618 units in Korea in the first year after it was introduced, making up 44 percent of the country’s auto market.

In 1982, the year Pony 2 was introduced, the combined share in the local market hit 67 percent.

Five Pony sedans were exported to Ecuador in July 1976, which marked the first export of Korea’s domestically-developed vehicle.

A total of 1,019 Pony sedans were exported in 1976 to areas including the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. As of 1982, Pony models were shipped to a total of 60 countries around the world.

But Chung was unable to fulfill his dream of mass producing the Pony Coupe sports car as the global economy was hit by the 1979's oil crisis.

The historical records of the development process of Pony are on display at the exhibition [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

The diaries of Hyundai employees who engaged in developing Pony are also on display at the exhibition. [SARAH CHEA]

With its wedge-style nose, circular headlamps and origami-like geometric lines, the Pony revival project, which began last November, was accomplished thanks to an initiative to accomplish the late founder’s goal to make Pony Coupe a global brand, Hyundai said.

The entire restoration project was handled by Euisun Chung, the grandson of the late Chung, and Fabrizio Giugiaro, the son of Giorgetto Giugiaro.

From the exterior and interior down to the engine, the latest Pony Coupe was restored as an exact copy of the original 1970s model.

Measuring 4,080 millimeters (160 inches) long, 1,560 millimeters wide and 1,210 millimeters in height, the Pony Coupe has a four-cylinder gasoline engine generating up to 82 horsepower.

Design sketches of Pony, above, and Ioniq 5. The roofline of Ioniq 5 was developed inspired by the Pony. The sketches are on display at the exhibition. [SARAH CHEA]

A massive gear knob is placed inside, while a manual window regulator, or hand crank window, replaces the buttons.

However, Hyundai is not planning to mass produce the restored Pony Coupe and is instead considering producing them in small quantities based on customer orders, according to Hyundai Motor's spokesperson.

The Pony exhibition displays Pony and the restored Pony Coupe alongside related models Pony Pickup and Pony Wagon.

Various historical records, such as the letter that the late Chung sent to Glugiaro and the diaries of Hyundai employees involved in developing the car will also be on display.

In the exhibition hall, Ioniq 5 and N Vision 74, its first hydrogen-powered sports concept car, will also go on display on the third floor. Hyundai said it was directly inspired by Pony Coupe when designing the vehicles.

The exhibition runs through Aug. 6, with attendees required to book a reservation online.

The rear of the Pony Coupe [SARAH CHEA]

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]