The Hyundai Motor Company was born in 1967, but its first car wasn?t a Hyundai but a Ford Cortina. Seven years later, the automaker developed its first official production car, the Hyundai Pony, South Korea?s first mass-produced and exported vehicle. The Pony is a rear-wheel-drive compact car in sedan, liftback, coupe, or pickup body styles. Hyundai began importing the fruit of its labor to other countries like Argentina, Chile, Greece, Belgium, and the Netherlands by 1979.

However, the production Pony first debuted as a concept at the 1974 Turin Motor Show. The Hyundai Pony Coupe was supposed to be the brand?s first-ever high-performance car, but the stars had other plans. Yet, it?s no wonder the Pony became a hit: it?s a mishmash of Italian styling, British engineering, Japanese hardware, and South Korean values. The automotive world might even be different if the actual Hyundai Pony Coupe Concept had made the assembly lines.
Then again, the concept did make it to production, but not as a Hyundai. Instead, when the South Korean automaker decided to shelve the Pony Coupe concept, the design, a heavily reconfigured silhouette with a wedge-like profile, was sold to a small carmaker called the DeLorean Motor Company (DMC). And it went on to become the cult classic DMC-12.

Hyundai Pony Coupe Lives Again

Hyundai Motor unveiled the rebuilt Pony Coupe Concept at the inaugural Hyundai Reunion on May 19th, 2023. The event was held at the historic Villa Pliniana in ...