Photo: Guido ten Brink/SB-Medien
Concept cars are often where designers go crazy, but even then, in most cases, you can still tell the brand just by looking at the damn thing. Good luck doing that with the Hyundai Le Fil Rouge Coupe.
The heavily coupe-influenced sedan (just trying to avoid the "four-door coupe" description, but that's essentially what it is. A very large one too) is called "Le Fil Rouge," which just makes things even more confusing since there was no need for a South Korean manufacturer to give its vehicle a French name. Luckily, it's also called HDC-1, so we'll stick to that from now on.
A direct translation of its name (the French one, not the Star Wars robot one) is "the red thread," but the meaning of the expression is actually "common thread." What does Hyundai mean by it? Well, apparently it's a reminder that the company's past, present, and future designs are all connected. Looking at the HDC-1 and the i30, for example, we beg to differ.
However, this thing is supposed to introduce a new design language for the carmaker, and that's where our complaining stops. The HDC-1 looks sexy as hell, and you can just see how that large front grille could work for both conventionally-powered vehicles and EVs as well. We're not entirely sure about its aerodynamics, though.
If you think the exterior is nice, wait until you get to see the inside of the cabin. Even though it keeps all the usual paraphernalia (steering wheel, pedals, a central console and all), it manages to look more modern than the Volkswagen I.D. VIZZION's. The only thing we'd take from the German concept is the floor lining.
Hyundai also introduced a few special terms with this concept, which we're likely to hear more often in the future in the company's press releases. The "cascading grille" isn't new, but it's just been given a whole new dimension - quite literally. Another one is "Sensuous Sportiness," which is what will guide designers when coming up with future models.
What's that all about? Well, if you had anything to do with art so far, you'll be very familiar with the concept of the "golden ratio." It's not just arts that use it, but also mathematics, and it can apparently be found in nature as well. From a numerical point of view, it has a value of 1.618:1, and we'll gladly listen to anyone explain (with a ruler in hand, of course) where that can be found on the "Common Thread" concept.
Sadly, we doubt the futuristic look of the HDC-1 will be reproduced any time soon for any of the company's production models. We'd be the happiest persons in the world to be proven wrong, but there are hundreds of previous examples to support our pessimistic forecast. Let Hyundai be one of the few to break the mold.
A direct translation of its name (the French one, not the Star Wars robot one) is "the red thread," but the meaning of the expression is actually "common thread." What does Hyundai mean by it? Well, apparently it's a reminder that the company's past, present, and future designs are all connected. Looking at the HDC-1 and the i30, for example, we beg to differ.
However, this thing is supposed to introduce a new design language for the carmaker, and that's where our complaining stops. The HDC-1 looks sexy as hell, and you can just see how that large front grille could work for both conventionally-powered vehicles and EVs as well. We're not entirely sure about its aerodynamics, though.
If you think the exterior is nice, wait until you get to see the inside of the cabin. Even though it keeps all the usual paraphernalia (steering wheel, pedals, a central console and all), it manages to look more modern than the Volkswagen I.D. VIZZION's. The only thing we'd take from the German concept is the floor lining.
Hyundai also introduced a few special terms with this concept, which we're likely to hear more often in the future in the company's press releases. The "cascading grille" isn't new, but it's just been given a whole new dimension - quite literally. Another one is "Sensuous Sportiness," which is what will guide designers when coming up with future models.
What's that all about? Well, if you had anything to do with art so far, you'll be very familiar with the concept of the "golden ratio." It's not just arts that use it, but also mathematics, and it can apparently be found in nature as well. From a numerical point of view, it has a value of 1.618:1, and we'll gladly listen to anyone explain (with a ruler in hand, of course) where that can be found on the "Common Thread" concept.
Sadly, we doubt the futuristic look of the HDC-1 will be reproduced any time soon for any of the company's production models. We'd be the happiest persons in the world to be proven wrong, but there are hundreds of previous examples to support our pessimistic forecast. Let Hyundai be one of the few to break the mold.
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