For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a total car nerd. Sparked by my parents, who took me to local hill climb races in the North of Italy right around the same time I started walking, cars are all I’ve ever been interested in. Whether on a family road trip, during daily school bus commutes, or while riding my bike around the neighborhood, I was always car-spotting. And it’s never really stopped; from Italy to the UK and then onto Japan.

After all this time, I consider myself to have an above-average knowledge of cars, which is probably a good thing given I shoot, film, write, and talk about them for a living. But up until very recently, I had never heard of the Hyundai Pony. The first time I heard the name was when Luke Huxham called me a few months back asking if I wanted to come and shoot the behind-the-scenes photo content for a film he was to direct in South Korea.

That film is Run Pony Run, which you should press play above to watch if you haven’t seen it already.

Fast forward a few weeks, and I found myself at a port in Seoul next to Nobutero ‘NOB’ Taniguchi and a wild custom-built Hyundai Pony II drift car.

What on earth was happening? It’s pretty simple really. Peaches, a South Korean car culture-based lifestyle brand, has built the wildest interpretation of Korea’s most iconic car and invited one of the world’s best drifters to drive it for a short film.

The Hyundai Pony, produced for 15 years from 1975, was Korea’s first mass-produced car. It brought affordable motoring to the country, and because of that, it holds a special place in every Korean’s heart. Peaches’ car started as a second-generation Pony II. But as you might have guessed, it’s a far different machine now than the one that rolled off Hyundai’s production line in 1982.

Khyzyl Saleem was called on to reinvent the Pony’s exterior and settled on a Group B rally design that’s totally in keeping with the car’s age but adds aggression and function. Under the skin, the Pony’s original naturally-aspirated Mitsubishi four-cylinder engine was swapped out for a Theta II Turbo mill (Mitsubishi 4B11 based) from a Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T. It’s not stock, with about 400hp on tap.

Peaches began building their Pony II late last year, with Taniguchi flying to Seoul several times to set up and shakedown ahead of filming.

Shooting behind-the-scenes content for a production like this is always fun. You get to follow the shots being put together – pretty much never in chronological order – and witness what goes into creating the film’s look and feel.

This brings us to the first main location of the shoot, a port around an hour outside of Seoul’s city center.

The film’s storyline sees Taniguchi being shipped from Tokyo to Seoul inside a container. Once he arrives in South Korea, Taniguchi jumps straight into the Pony II and sends it sideways at different locations.

For me, checking out all the cinema-grade film gear and tools is just as fun as the filming, starting with the U-Crane-equipped Mercedes-Benz ML 55 AMG camera car.

In the first action scene, which was being up and shot here, Taniguchi blasts out of the port at speed.

On the first day, the car was plagued with several technical issues that saw it significantly down on power.

You can see the engine layout with the top-mounted turbo and the pushrod damper setup that makes up the front suspension geometry.

I was impressed at how Taniguchi overcame the lack of power by using the car’s momentum to get it to slide in the right places so the team operating the U-Crane could get their shots.

As night fell on the first day, the crew took care of some of the container shots.

This gave me time to properly look over the car.

What Khyzyl managed to do with the Pony II hatchback is crazy. It truly looks like something that could have competed in Group B rallying back in the day. This is achieved through huge front and rear box fenders that give the Hyundai new proportions. Refinements around the side skirts and the cut rear bumper inject some modernity into the package while adding even more attitude.

It’s also wild how much wider the front track is compared to the rear, the wheels barely being contained by the oversized fenders.

Another modern touch is the roof spoiler that flares up on its extremities and includes several elements to maximize downforce.

With one peek inside, you can tell this car is function-focused. The cabin features exposed tube framing, roll cage reinforcements, raw sheet metal, and not much else.

The rear section of the roll cage provides space for twin overflow tanks for the rear-mounted radiator, along with mounting points for the rear pushrod suspension layout.

When I returned to the set, the container landing sequence and Taniguchi’s arrival shots were being captured. This is my favorite part of the film; the man himself sitting comfortably in a lounge chair at the back of the container, illuminated by a single light.

The scene ends with Taniguchi walking out of the container and revealing the car.

By this time it was late, but thankfully we had a constant supply of coffee and snacks to keep us going into the wee hours. I love how the food truck was displaying a poster of Taniguchi.

Some drifting scenes required onboard shots of Tanaguchi, but these weren’t captured how you might think they would be. Firstly, faux tire smoke was created by spraying oil on some burners.

Flashing lights gave the impression of speed, and with the smoke pouring into the cabin, it looked like Taniguchi was drifting.

This is what it all looked like from a few steps back. Pretty crazy.

The main cameras used for filming – including this scene – was a pair of full-frame Sony Venice 6K units mated to a variety of cinema-grade prime lenses.

This is the type of setup used in Hollywood movie productions; no expense was spared in guaranteeing an ultra-high-quality cinematic look.

The night ended just as the sun was about to break across the horizon, the last shot being Taniguchi drifting around the guy on a scooter.

The following evening – after the crew grabbed a few hours of sleep till mid-afternoon – everyone was back at it. This time our location was in the center of Seoul on a hill that looked like it was still stuck in the ’70s. This is where we would be playing with toy cars.

While the crew was setting up their gear and waiting for night to fall, I went for a little wander and checked out the city views from the hillside location.

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In the film, this is where Taniguchi parks up the Pony II and meets a child playing with a replica of his car. Shots in the bag, day two wrapped up.

On the final day of shooting, we all moved to the AMG Speedway, an hour or so outside Seoul, where many action shots were taken care of.

Arriving as the track opened, the rigging crew wasted no time setting up two camera angles.

I’m sure you can spot which shots in the video came from this low-mounted camera.

At the same time the production was going on, Taniguchi was documenting the experience for his own channels.

The day was filled with a ton of driving, and the Pony II – now with extra power thanks to some overnight engine work – was performing flawlessly.

As if shooting a production of this magnitude wasn’t hard enough, there was a time crunch of just three days, hence the crazy schedule. Taniguchi had to return to Japan for racing commitments, and the car needed to be shipped to Poland for Club de Ultrace 2024.

It’s always fun working on these projects. Hopefully, the next one isn’t too far away!

Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: dino_dalle_carbonare
dino@speedhunters.com