In a move few saw coming, Hyundai is making a supercar. Technically, its luxury division Genesis is dipping its toes into the flagship performance realm with this swoopy coupe dubbed the Magma GT Concept. What is Magma, you ask? It’s essentially what M is to BMW and AMG is to Mercedes, a dedicated performance sub-brand.
The Koreans remain tight-lipped about the car, only confirming that it will go into production as their halo model. While the two-light motif front and rear is distinctly Genesisthe overall shape gives off strong Koenigsegg vibes. That’s not a bad thing; Hyundai should feel flattered by the association with an exotic brand.
The production-ready version is believed to serve as a homologation special for a future GT3-spec race car. The Magma GT is expected to use a variation of the newly developed twin-turbo 3.2-liter V8 engineered for the GMR-001 hypercar. It’s too soon to say whether the engine mounted behind the seats will send power only to the rear wheels or to all four. Either way, a manual gearbox seems unlikely.
Although officially labeled a conceptthe Magma GT looks close to production. Hopefully, the radical two-seater keeps its scissor doors and adopts a see-through engine cover to showcase the V8. We can’t imagine the design changing much, especially since Genesis has already fitted proper side mirrors.
A firm launch date hasn’t been disclosed, but Genesis is determined to build it. For now, the Magma GT “represents the foundation for a future performance lineup led by a true halo car.” We imagine it will be the most expensive vehicle in Hyundai’s history. However, it would still need to undercut the big names from FerrariMcLaren, and co.
While Genesis has received the green light to bring a supercar to fruition, BMW continues to hesitate on launching an M1 spiritual successor. We recently learned from M CEO Frank van Meel that it’s not a priority. Nevertheless, the company hasn’t given up on the idea of a follow-up to the E26. It came close around the turn of the decade, but the Vision M Next–based I16 mid-engined project was killed by the coronavirus pandemic.
