While we're busy covering all the premiers at the New York Auto Show, there's also an automotive party going down in Seoul. Hyundai hit the stage with this, the HND-9 Concept, and while it looks a bit like a Lexus LF-LC, if this is a guide to Korea's future sports car we're in.
Surprisingly, this concept is not powered by a complicated hybrid system, but rather the 3.3-liter diesel you get in a Santa Fe Crossover. This V6 sends 370 horsepower through an 8-speed automatic transmission.
With its long hood and the wraparound windows, they call the styling "fluidic." What's for sure is that the coupe is 184.8 inches long, 74 inches wide, 52 inches high and has 112.5 inches between those massive twenty-two inch alloys. It also features butterfly doors and a grille so big it could probably swallow a 2014 Aston Martin Rapide for breakfast.
As for what's on the inside, Hyundai says that "it was designed to deliver a modern, luxurious driving experience, and three key concepts were embedded into the interior design to realize this goal: spiral sculpture, elegance and high-tech interface."
In English, that translates to a driver-oriented cockpit with mood-lighting and seats covered in a mesh that projects different colors depending on which angle they are seen from.
Just like the Lexus, the Hyundai HND-9 also remains a concept teasing us with the future of the brand. The way I see it, it's about time for Korea to turn one of these dreams into a reality.
Photo credit: Hyundai/Upcomingvehicles