Focus too hard on something and you eventually start spinning around in circles. Case in point is Hyundai with its all-singing new-generation Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), Ioniq 5.
Despite the cutting-edge ethos of the new model, Hyundai has long insisted that Ioniq 5 is also an homage to the 1975 Pony, its first international model.
The tributes started with the angular 45 concept of 2019 - marking 45 years since the original Pony coupe concept of 1974, if you’re still with us.
The look of the Ioniq 5 production model is still pretty close to that 45 concept, so it’s pretty radical. And that’s cool.
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But this year Hyundai also thought it would be brilliant to restomod an original Pony to mimick the new Ioniq 5.
So a heritage model has been modified to pay homage to a new car that pays homage to that heritage model. Huh?
Anyway, the “Heritage Series Pony” is awesome. It’s a one-off that was shown at the opening of the Hyundai Motorstudio Busan this year.
It's clearly recognisable as an old-school Pony (a real car was dismantled and rebuilt to create it), but with Ioniq-style Pixel Road Trip lights, fender-mounted cameras instead of mirrors (move over Honda e) and gorgeous retro-futuristic instruments with illuminated vacuum tubes.
The vehicle is powered by an unspecified BEV powertrain and in the boot there’s even a “last mile mobility device” (that’s an e-scooter to you and I) in a beautiful stainless steel case.
