For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a car nerd. Inspired by my parents, who took me to local hill climbs in Northern Italy around the same time I started running, cars have been the only thing I’ve ever been interested in. Whether it was on a family road trip, during the daily school bus rides 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 to Japan.
After all this time, I consider myself to have an above-average knowledge of cars, which is probably a good thing since I photograph, film, write about, and talk about them for a living. But until recently, I had never heard of the Hyundai Pony. The first time I heard the name was when Lucas Huxham called me a few months ago and asked if I wanted to come over and do some behind-the-scenes photography for a film he was directing in South Korea.
That movie is Run Pony Run, If you haven’t seen this yet, click ‘play’ above to watch it.
A few weeks later I found myself in a port in Seoul, next to Nobutero ‘NOB’ Taniguchi and a wild, custom-made Hyundai Pony II drift car.
What the hell was going on? It’s actually quite simple. Peachesa South Korean lifestyle brand based on car culture has created 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, which was produced for 15 years starting in 1975, was Korea’s first mass-produced car. It brought affordable motoring to the country and holds a special place in every Korean’s heart because of it. Peaches’ car started out as a second-generation Pony II. But as you might have guessed, it’s now a very different machine than the one that rolled off Hyundai’s production line in 1982.
Khyzyl Saleem was called upon to reimagine the Pony’s exterior, opting for a Group B rally design that fully suits the car’s age but adds aggression and functionality. Under the skin, the Pony’s original naturally aspirated Mitsubishi four-cylinder engine has been swapped out for a Theta II Turbo engine (based on the Mitsubishi 4B11) from a Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T. It’s not a standard engine, developing around 400 horsepower.
Peaches began building their Pony II late last year, with Taniguchi flying to Seoul several times to set up and test everything before filming.
It’s always fun to shoot behind the scenes content for a production like this. You get to follow the shots as they’re put together – almost never in chronological order – and see what goes into creating the look and feel of the film.
Location 1: The Harbor
This brings us to the first main location of the filming, a port about an hour’s drive from Seoul’s city center.
The storyline of the film shows Taniguchi being shipped in a container from Tokyo to Seoul. Once he arrives in South Korea, Taniguchi immediately jumps into the Pony II and steers it sideways to various locations.
For me, looking at all the cinema-quality film equipment and tools is just as much fun as filming itself. I start with the U-Crane equipped Mercedes-Benz ML 55 AMG camera car.
In the first action scene, filmed here, Taniguchi shoots out of the harbor at high speed.
On the first day the car suffered from several technical problems, which caused a significant loss of power.
You can see the engine layout with the top-mounted turbo and the pushrod damper setup that forms the geometry of the front suspension.
I was impressed with the way Taniguchi overcame the lack of power by using the car’s momentum to slide it into just the right spots for the team operating the U-Crane to get their shots.
As evening fell on the first day, the crew took on a number of container lifts.
This gave me time to take a good look at the car.
What Khyzyl has done with the Pony II hatchback is insane. It really does look like something that could have competed in Group B rallying back in the day. This is achieved by massive front and rear fenders that give the Hyundai new proportions. Refinements around the side skirts and the sculpted rear bumper modernize the package and add even more attitude.
It’s also surprising how much wider the track is at the front compared to the rear, with the wheels barely being caught by the oversized fenders.
Another modern touch is the roof spoiler that extends upwards at the ends and features various elements to maximize downforce.
One look inside and you can see that this car is focused on functionality. The cabin has an open tubular frame, roll cage reinforcements, rough 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.
When I got back to the set, the container landing sequence and Taniguchi’s arrival shots were being filmed. This is my favorite part of the film; the man himself sitting comfortably in a deck chair in the back of the container, lit by a single light.
The scene ends with Taniguchi walking out of the container, revealing the car.
It was late by now, but luckily we had a steady supply of coffee and snacks to keep us going until the early hours. I love how the food truck had a poster of Taniguchi on display.
Some drifting scenes required onboard shots of Tanaguchi, but they weren’t captured as you might expect. For one, fake tire smoke was created by spraying oil onto some of the burners.
The 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 primary cameras used for filming, including this scene, were two full-frame Sony Venice 6K units, coupled with a variety of cinema-quality prime lenses.
This is the type of setup used in Hollywood film productions; no expense has been spared to ensure an ultra-high quality cinema experience.
The night ended just as the sun was rising above the horizon. The last photo shows Taniguchi riding around the man on the scooter.
Location 2: Old Seoul
The next night, after the crew had slept for a few hours until mid-afternoon, everyone was back at work. This time our location was in downtown Seoul on a hill that looked like it was still stuck in the 70s. Here we would play with toy cars.
While the crew set up their gear and waited for dark, I went for a little walk and enjoyed the view of the city from the hill.
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In the film, this is where Taniguchi parks the Pony II and encounters a child playing with a replica of his car. Shots in the bag, day two completed.
Location 2: Fun on the track
On the last day of shooting, we all moved to the AMG Speedway, about an hour outside of Seoul, where we shot a lot of action shots.
When the track opened, the rigging team immediately started setting up two camera positions.
I’m sure you can see what footage in the video was shot with this low-mounted camera.
While production was underway, Taniguchi documented the experience for his own channels.
The riding was hard all day and the Pony II – now with extra power thanks to some engine work done overnight – performed flawlessly.
As if shooting a production of this size wasn’t tough enough, there was a time constraint of just three days, hence the insane schedule. Taniguchi had to return to Japan for racing commitments and the car had to be shipped to Poland for Ultrace Club 2024.
It’s always fun to work on these kinds of projects. Hopefully the next one isn’t too far away!
Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: dino_dalle_carbonare
dino@speedhunters.com