Hyundai’s idea of an April Fools’ Day prank is an N
Roadster. The Korean company’s N performance division shared the digital image
on its social media pages and got nothing but positive feedback, at the time of
writing anyway.
The render is actually a couple of months old. It’s
signed by YeonjoonPark, who has imagined what a hypothetical Mazda MX-5/Fiat
124 Spider rival made by Hyundai N, would look like. It has a long hood, side air
vents behind the front wheels, dual exhaust tips incorporated into the rear
diffuser, large wing and fancy LED taillights joined together by a light strip.
Whenever the two occupants don’t feel the need to
look at the sky above, they can push a button and a two-piece hard top will
cover the cockpit, although a soft top would probably be better, since it would
keep the weight down. All in all, the design looks exciting and we wouldn’t mind seeing it
on the road. Unfortunately, outside the fantasy realm, this segment is too weak
(in sales), these days, so it’s a tough call convincing Hyundai bean counters
to fork out the necessary funds for research and development.
Unlike the front-wheel drive i30 N, i30 N Fastback
and Veloster N, this would need to be a rear-wheel drive model, and that means
either coming up with a new foundation or if possible, adapting an existing one
from the group (i.e. from the Genesis G70). On top of that, the chassis would
need to be reinforced to help it cope with the open top styling. On a more positive note, the
Korean might aim higher than the small roadster, as the Genesis brand could
come up with a supercar, or at least that’s what reports have claimed in the
past.
