Model of the Month - January 2025
From one Concept to Another…
It was just one week ago when I was writing the Blog Post of the Model of the Month – December 2024, there, it was the first time that the winner was not a model, but a Concept.
In that case, the Concept referred to the idea of a specific design. If you haven’t read that one, I would suggest you take a look, so you know exactly what I mean.
HERE it is.
This time, we move to another Concept, but the definition is a different one, we now enter the world of the imagination, the land of the curiosity, the place where there are no limits and the car designers can let their pencils wander around, flirt with their dreams and come up with ideas that challenge the status quo… we now enter to the World of the Concept Car.
What is a Concept Car? Well, they are cars usually made to showcase a new style or a new technology in a brand’s heritage. They are often exhibited in motor shows, and they are mainly created to measure the reaction of the public to whatever the automaker is presenting.
1938 Buick Y-Job, often considered to be the first concept car.
Most of the Concept Cars are never mass produced, and some of them don’t even work.
In some particular cases, when the reaction of the consumers is good enough to justify the production of a Concept Car, the same must undergo a thorough review in order to comply with safety regulations and cost effectiveness, so in some cases, the final production car comes out very differently to the original Concept Car.
Take a look at the 1999 Charger Concept vs the final production car, the 2005 Charger.
From these 2 brothers, one is definitely adopted.
1999 Charger Concept (left), 2005 Dodge Charger (right).
The Future is in the Past…
Our Model of the month is exactly that, a Concept Car, one that was released in 2022, but this modern boy was designed as an update/Facelift/Upgrade, or whatever you want to call it, to another Concept Car, and this was actually released 48 years before in 1974.
So, before we talk about the new kid on the block, let’s talk about that old boy.
1974 Hyundai Pony Coupe Concept
The Hyundai Pony Coupe Concept was designed by none other than Giorgetto Giugiaro, and it was presented for the first time at the 1974 Turin Motor Show.
The response was positive, and the vehicle was brought to Korea so Hyundai could study it. The engineering drawings were made, but the lack of a suitable engine blocked the viability of the business case, and it was never mass produced, at least not the Concept.
1975 Hyundai Pony
The mass production of a Hyundai Pony came in 1975, altering the Concept in almost every aspect, regardless, this was the first mass-produced and exported car from Hyundai, it has two generations, and it ran until 1990. So, all in all, pretty successful.
Despite the Korean flunk, the influence of the Pony Coupe Concept crossed the Atlantic Ocean and was taken over by some random guy called John DeLorean, have you heard of him?
He embraced the idea of the concept and used it to create his own car, the DMC DeLorean, that, of course, was a complete disaster until the Back to the Future trilogy, but that’s a different story.
So, if you see some resemblance between our winner of the month and our favorite time machine, now you know why.
DMC DeLorean, produced from 1981 until 1983.
A Clear Vision…
On the Hyundai N Day’s event in 2022, the Hyundai N Performance division came with a Pony that had a Thoroughbred’s blood.
The N Vision 74 took inspiration from the design of our aforementioned Pony Coupe Concept; the lines, the color, the wedge shape… It even was a rear-wheel-drive like the 1974 Concept.
2022 Hyundai N Vision 74. N day 2022 Presentation.
If you were wondering, that’s where the 74 comes from in the name of our January’s King. The N of course comes from the N Performance division from Hyundai; and the Vision? You ask… Well, that comes from a completely different Program, The Vision Gran Turismo Program.
Long story short, when Gran Turismo was developing Gran Turismo 6, they asked different car manufacturers to create some unique designs that were going to be available in the game (if you want to know more about this, you can check my unboxing video of the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo below).
This has become a tradition now, and there are plenty of “Vision” cars around, just Google them. Some brands even created real prototypes or Concept Cars of these designs that are presented at different Auto Shows; but let’s not get carried away…
The Vision in the name comes from the underlying technologies that this baby takes from the Hyundai N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo, and don’t get mislead by the name, the concept was built and presented for the first time in the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show.
Hyundai N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo
Just like the Gran Turismo Vision Concept, The N Vision 74 is powered by two electric traction motors, both on the rear axle; this power is provided by both a storage battery and a hydrogen fuel cell.
And you'd be glad to know that in December 2023, Hyundai confirmed plans to produce 100 units of the N Vision 74, 70 for public customers and 30 reserved for racing. This time, the car world won guys!
Mini GT & Hyundai's exclusivity.
There was some news about Mini GT releasing a model based on the N Vision 74, but Mini GT kept releasing their monthly pre-order windows without any mention of the desired concept car.
It was only until the 3rd quarter of 2024 that Mini GT released a statement; the N Vision 74 was to be sold only by Hyundai online shop in Korea, so the desire for the car exploded.
In this case, the typical Mini GT box was redesigned, which increased the sense of exclusivity.
The execution as usual is flawless. The Silver Satin color of the car is faithfully replicated and the design lines and vents are fitted properly.
On the side, you have the inserted mirrors made from flexible plastic, all the aerodynamic details are on point, and you have the N of the performance Division by the side of the front wheel.
On the subject of wheels, Mini GT designed an exact replica of the real wheels, the white disc and the white line of the rubber tires, and if you do a close up to the rear wheels, then you will see the N logo once again, just on a much smaller scale.
The black interiors put a good fight to the camera, so it is difficult to show them to you, but the seats look exactly like the racing ones that the Real car is fitting.
Moving to the back, the back window is covered by a plastic diffuser and the number 74 on the left.
The Wing is faithfully designed, and it has the Hyundai naming on top and the logos on the sides.
There is a back diffuser, acrylic inserts for the taillights and a small Hyundai text by the right, no exhaust pipes, you know, this not having an internal combustion engine and all…
In the front you will see a little Hyundai logo in the hood, that just like the interior, is extremely difficult to photograph due to the stain finish of the car.
By the sides of an incredibly well-made grill, you have the led/pixels double headlights that the real car displays in such a menacing manner.
In a nutshell, this is banger of a model, and the exclusivity makes it all the more desirable.
This Mini GT model, just like the real Concept, has been presented in a car show (Hyundai exclusive store) and the response is positive (whenever it is available it gets Sold Out), so only time will tell if Mini GT decides to put it in mass production and sell it through their local distributors.
-----------------------------------------------------------
PS. The N Vision 74 was presented in 2022 in the Hyundai N day together with the Hyundai RN22e concept, and the Mini GT release of this Concept Car it is also being sold only through the Hyundai store, but that, is another story…
