It’s impossible to ignore how much Hyundai’s design team is killing the game right now. The clearly-Giugiaro-inspired throwback designs it is producing are absolutely rad to the max. The Ioniq 5 looks a treat, and that kind of retro 80s-aping design is the next big thing if you ask me. Making a small-ish sport coupe based on the same architecture would be wicked, and I really hope that’s what Hyundai is doing with the N division’s first unique sports car design. The allegedly-on-its-way N74 could be as important for the brand as the M1 was to BMW M. It takes a serious daily driver manufacturer and springboards them toward an Ultimate Driving Machine trajectory.
Last summer Hyundai showed off the N Vision 74 concept, a 671 horsepower hydrogen and electric sport coupe based itself on a 1974 Pony concept. With the range-extending hydrogen fuel cell onboard, the N Vision 74 is capable of nearly 400 miles of range from a full charge, and sprints from 0-60 in under 4 seconds. It’s a pretty wild machine and one that I truly hope Hyundai builds largely unchanged. All of the pieces are there for the company, as the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 provided their rear electric motors, and the Nexo hydrogen car provided the fuel cell and storage system.
The company has trademarked the name N74 with the European Union Intellectual Property Office. Certainly, some companies will hold a trademark on something and it never actually comes to market, but I hope that Hyundai is serious about this machine. There hasn’t been a pure sports car built on an electric platform on the sane side of seven figures since the Tesla Roadster ended production, and likely we won’t see another one until Porsche finally unveils the Boxster/Cayman electric in the near future. It would sure be nice to see something like this come to fruition, giving the world another sporty option heading into the EV future.