Hyundai may be gunning to build a new halo — a production version of the N Vision 74 Concept.
670 horsepower. Rear-wheel drive. Wonderfully wacky styling. Last year, Hyundai stunned crowds with the N Vision 74 concept, and now there are some preliminary signs the automaker may actually put it into production. Of course, fans should absolutely refrain from holding their breaths until Hyundai actually spills the beans and confirms a production model, but a recent bit of news gives us some reason to hope our dreams of a hardcore hydrogen sports car may come true.
Somebody at 7th Mustang forums, of all places, spotted a European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) filing for the “N74” nameplate. Specifically, the trademark name “Hyundai N74” submitted yesterday covers “automobiles, sports cars, vans, motor trucks, motor buses, and electric vehicles.” In other words, that boilerplate language means this mark applies specifically to some sort of vehicle, and sports car should definitely jump out at you there.
Hyundai did roll out an engineering prototype as a technical demonstration that they could build the N74 for real. When journalists cornered Hyundai-Kia development boss Albert Biermann about it, he played coy and noted the brand doesn’t strictly “need” such a car in its lineup (per Car & Driver).
Nevertheless, some folks over at Hyundai, including VP of Hyundai’s N brand and motorsport division Till Wartenburg, seem keen to make this happen. Does a trademark application guarantee a car will go into production? No, absolutely not. If that were the case, we’d have a new midsize Ram Dakota pickup by now, as well as a deluge of iconic nameplates for our delectation.
It’s an exciting prospect though, even if we have to temper our expectations with a bit of the real world, like where Hyundai could feasibly sell it until more countries invest in hydrogen infrastructure. Toyota is also working on making hydrogen fuel cell performance cars more than just engineers’ test beds, so maybe we’ll see some movement from their end or Hyundai’s soon.
We’ll have to wait and see…as always. While I’m not keen to bill this development as more than rumormill buzz right now, it does possibly corroborate past reports that Hyundai 100% plans to put the N74 into serial production.
