Geneva Show: Student-designed Hyundai PassoCorto

HYUNDAI has commissioned a group of Italian-based design students to pen a concept car for Gen-Y buyers, and the result is a sexy full-scale mock-up called the PassoCorto that will premiere at next month’s Geneva motor show.

A team of 16 masters students from the Istituto Europeo di Design in Rome were briefed by the Korean car-maker to come up with a car that would appeal to young people.

Reportedly powered by a 198kW mid-mounted twin-turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a production version of the little two-seater Korean supercar would take on the likes of Alfa Romeo’s similarly proportioned and powered 4C.

The name PassoCorto translates in English as ‘short step’ and relates to the vehicle’s proposed 2450mm wheelbase, which would give the baby supercar nimble handling characteristics.

Its pair of turbochargers appear to exhaust through the top of the engine cover in a similar manner to Porsche’s 918 hypercar, while pronounced ducts and aerodynamics hint at a car that is intended to travel at high-speed.

Two concepts made the final cut and were combined to produce the vehicle you see here, and if you were wondering how a team of post-graduates did such a good job then it may come as no surprise that their course coordinator was Pininfarina’s lead designer, Luca Borgogno.