Hyundai’s latest EV looks like retro dynamite! (And it has a real nixie-tube dashboard)

In popular mythology it’s usually the phoenix that’s reborn from the ashes of its past self… but it looks like Hyundai is carrying that metaphor over to the Pony. By reimagining its first-ever mass-produced car as a new, electric-powered hatchback, the Hyundai Pony Heritage Series electric concept feels a lot like a rebirth of sorts, with a more contemporary yet equally retro-punkish design that’s difficult to ignore!

The Pony was Hyundai’s first-ever production vehicle, making a grand debut in 1975 and being available all the way till 1990. Paying a fitting tribute to the very car that put Hyundai on the map, the Pony Heritage Series EV is a modern reinterpretation of the classic affordable hatchback, with an electric beating heart. There’s something undeniably retro about the Pony Heritage Series EV, and it wears that distinction proudly on its sleeve. The car’s design, proportions, and even details are wonderfully vintage, albeit with a few modern upgrades on the outside as well as the inside. On the outside, the EV’s headlights and taillights feature a pixel LED pattern that can also be seen on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the 45 EV. The rims sport a machined finish that has a retrofuturistic vibe, while the car’s side-view mirrors, located all the way on the front fenders, sport cameras instead.

The insides feel like a modern time machine, with concealed LED lighting on both the doors, leather-wrapped bucket seats, and a brushed-metal dashboard. Within the dashboard sits an all-new steering wheel, featuring a three-spoke design with PONY script in the center and a physical voice control button on the left. However, its spotlight is stolen by the incredibly impressive nixie-tube setup in front of it. Designed mainly for the appeal (since this is just a one-off concept), the dashboard acts as a numeric speedometer, lighting up with the different numbers to show what speed your car is traveling at.

The one-off retrofuturistic Pony Heritage Series electric concept was unveiled as a part of Hyundai’s ‘Reflections in Motion’ exhibition, being held from April 8th till June 27th, 2021. The Heritage Series Pony is on display at Hyundai’s Motorstudio in Busan, South Korea.

Designer: Hyundai

This steampunk radio, speaker and clock comes with a display made from real nixie tubes!




Didn’t you get the memo? Retro is in! WandaVision takes us through the 50s, major artists like the Weeknd, Dua Lipa, and Silk Sonic are reintroducing us to the sounds of the 80s, and we’re having a deja-vu moment with Cyberpunk, a sci-fi cult movement that was popularized in the 70s! Riding on that retro-wave is Retio, an all-in-one retro radio, Bluetooth speaker, and clock that comes with a simple, sophisticated, steampunk-inspired design. Handcrafted in California, the Retio comes with a Walnut wood body surrounded by a brass accent, a fabric frontal clad, beautifully knurled brass knobs, and the Retio’s pièce de résistance, a display crafted from four genuine vintage Nixie tubes!

A portmanteau of the words Retro and Radio, Retio focuses on the sheer beauty of artifacts from the decades gone by. It harks back to a simpler time, but showcases the incredibly complex 70-year old nixie-tube technology that remains equally captivating even today. The tubes are genuine vintages, having been built more than 30 years ago but preserved in mint condition. You see, nixie tubes today are incredibly hard to find, given that nobody mass-produces them anymore… especially since they’re incredibly difficult to manufacture and require a highly skilled hand. However, this obsolete technology makes the nixie tubes a perfect bookmark of an era gone by, and the Retio showcases them in true retro glory.

The nixie tubes sit proudly within the Retio’s simple wooden box design, capped with a brass accent and clad with a fabric front to give it the appearance of an old-time radio. Beautifully knurled knobs on the front of the device let you control the radio’s frequency and volume, while also letting you switch between using the Retio as a radio, a Bluetooth speaker, or a clock… an experience that’s made complete by how the nixie tubes respond to the controls, as the layered numbers glow and change as you turn the knobs. Its vintage appearance, however, doesn’t mean an old dog can’t learn new tricks! The Retio works as a Bluetooth speaker too, allowing you to alternate between listening to radio stations and Spotify playlists or even your favorite podcasts. The speaker supports both 3.5mm aux inputs (in case you want to connect your turntable to it) and is equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 for your wireless devices. A powerful 10W Class-D amplifier on the inside allows the Retio to pack an absolute punch, rivaling similar-sized speakers from Harman Kardon or JBL. When you’re done, a simple knob-flip lets you switch back to clock mode, which is adjustable between 12hr and 24hr time displays. The clock even includes an alarm function, with as many as 3 melodious alarm sounds to choose from. The upper surface of the wooden panel acts as a capacitive touch surface, allowing you to switch off the alarm and even play-pause your music.

The Retio’s highlight, however, remains its limited-edition nixie tubes (no, they’re not non-fungible), collected over the years by its makers who are bonafide nixie enthusiasts. The tubes, made in the 80s and 90s (you can even see their year of manufacture on them) and have a life span of anywhere between 100,000 to 200,000 hours, guaranteeing you well past a lifetime’s worth of use. The tubes are powered by a ridiculously small HV Board (the smallest ever developed for nixie tubes) that supplies them with the 170V they need to function. Each Retio is also outfitted with a 6800mAh battery on the inside that can easily be charged via a 5V USB (most commonly found on power banks and laptops) and give the Retio a glorious 6 hours of usage on a full charge. And no, the Retio doesn’t come with a voice assistant, although who’s to say what tech becomes vintage in the next 30 years??

Designer: Gonglue Jiang

Click Here to Buy Now: $299 $399 ($100 off). Hurry, only 7/1450 left! Raised over $670,000.

Retio – Handcrafted Retro Radio Speaker with Nixie Tubes

Retio is an all-in-one retro radio, Bluetooth speaker, and clock. It uses Nixie tubes to display time and radio frequencies.

Retio is portable, with a 6800mAh battery that supports 6 hours of playback and clock time. Each unit is handcrafted using American black walnut, 360 brass, and vintage Nixie tubes.

Genuine Nixie Tubes

The last Nixie tubes were made in the early ‘90s when the technology was replaced by lower-cost alternatives such as LED. As Nixie tubes enthusiasts, the team has collected them over the years from various sources to use in Retio – the tubes in the Retio are genuine vintage stock.

Today’s Nixie tube stock availability is very limited, and the price goes up almost month by month as more people are realizing the beauty of their vintage glow. Use of these rare components makes Retio one of the most unique speakers in the market.

Radio Mode

You can choose between FM/AM or FM/DAB+.

Maybe you thought radio stations no longer exist nowadays, but they haven’t gone anywhere. When you turn on your Retio, the nostalgic feelings will come rushing back in seconds. Radio is different from how we enjoy music now. You don’t know what’s coming, and you can’t go back either – kind of like our lives. Every moment is unique and irreversible.

Speaker Mode

Retio’s speaker has amazing highs, crystal-clear mid ranges, and deep powerful bass. It’s equipped with a state-of-the-art 10W Class-D amplifier to deliver the most powerful sound you’ll ever get out of a speaker its size (the sound quality is comparable to Harman Kardon/JBL models with similar sizes).

The sound is finely tuned using advanced DSP, which allows for a more balanced and comfortable listening experience. With Qualcomm® aptX™ audio technology, Retio has hi-res wireless audio quality with Bluetooth 5.0. Retio is specially tuned for listening to retro-style music – you will be amazed every time, from the first beat.





Speaker test video (Recorded with non-professional recorder).

Clock Mode

Retio acts as a clock in silence and in speaker mode. Retio can display your choice of 24hr military time or 12hr standard time and the clock also includes an alarm function. Awaken to melodious sounds with your premium speaker, embedded with several of the best soundtracks with beautiful tones, tempos, and frequencies to wake you up.

Additional Features

Retio has six backlight colors to echo the different moods of the night.

A gentle tap on the top enables music pause/resume and alarm control.

Made To Last

Each Retio unit is handcrafted with love in the San Francisco Bay Area, using American black walnut, 360 brass, and genuine vintage Nixie tubes. The best part of a handcrafted product is that every unit is unique. Just as each cut of walnut has a different grain and pattern that sets it apart from the others, so too do their Nixie tubes – each was handmade more than 30 years ago, and varies from the next in its shape and glow.

Walnut is hand picked with FAS grading, FSC® certified. The wood case is CNC cut and hand-sanded, with Titebond3 glue and Osmo finishes. Each piece of wood is grain matched (the wood grain flows from one side to the next). They meticulously arrange the wood so the grain flows seamlessly from one side to the next, wraps around the Nixie tubes.





Spec

Click Here to Buy Now: $299 $399 ($100 off). Hurry, only 7/1450 left! Raised over $670,000.

This Nixie clock and radio with a Hi-Fi speaker is for audiophiles who savor pure vintage!

In times when we all are so accustomed to platter-served music on our cloud streaming services like Spotify or Tidal, the good old radio is the nostalgic detour we need to refresh our mind, body, and soul. Combine that with a steampunk flavor of vintage Nixie tubes + brass trims, and you’ve got a beautiful little box ready to take you on a melodic journey.

The Retio brings the antique 90’s essence of eye-catchy Nixie tubes and the golden appeal of radio listening for people who value retro things in their modern form. Handcrafted in San Francisco Bay Area with profound attention to detail, the radio clock is crafted from American black walnut. It’s embellished with 360 brass dials and corner trims to give it that cool steampunk appeal. The IN-12 Nixie tubes used in each one of these units are sourced from genuine vintage stock collected in the 90s. That single bit makes the Retio unique in its own rights. For audiophiles who appreciate sublime quality, Retio is the one to have in your living room or bedroom. That’s because it comes with support for AUX and Bluetooth connectivity with a Hi-Fi speaker module that is pure bliss for the ears.

Add to that the clock functionality and you are all prepared to get rid of your desk clock, vintage AM/FM radio, and portable speaker for this beautiful piece of vintage accessory. The light from the glowing Nixie tubes will suffice your need to warmly illuminate the corner of your room, so it’s another added advantage of sporting this in your home interiors. I already can’t get enough of this timeless radio clock, can you?

Designer: Retio

Click Here to Buy Now: $349

Bugatti’s era of elegance makes its comeback with the La Belle Epoque concept

Prior to being the company that made the world’s fastest production car, Bugatti had a reputation for making some of the most luxuriously elegant chariots the world has seen. With the La Belle Epoque concept, Bugatti is taken back to its vintage days, while keeping one foot firmly in the future.

Designed by Hojin Choi and inspired by the Bugatti Royale from 1927, the La Belle Epoque is grace personified. The chariot comes with a teardrop shape and a bubble-like cockpit enclosed within a metal outer shell that’s quite literally a symphony of curves. The glass windshield extends all the way from the front to the back in a single swoop, while the metal surfacing and the satin-finish paint job give the car its futuristic appeal. Combine that with the grace of a chariot-style form and you have the best of both worlds.

Even though it’s a fan-made concept, the La Belle Epoque (French for “The Good Times”) is every bit a Bugatti. The car comes with the unmistakable horseshoe radiator, and while its paint-job is fairly non-traditional (due to the absence of the signature blue), the Bugatti logo makes an appearance on the front, the sides (wheels), and even the back. It even sports the iconic C-line detail found on almost every modern Bugatti… a detail that’s gradually revealed when the car gracefully opens its long, beautiful, gullwing doors!

Designer: Hojin Choi

Steampunk makes everything cooler… even these playing cards

I may be entering this article with a slight bias, but I assure you it’s a healthy one. I rarely feature graphical designs on this platform, but these steampunk-styled playing cards are hard to ignore! Designed with immaculately beautiful visuals, the Art Of Steampunk (Vol 2) cards are a full deck of traditional playing cards with a non-traditional twist. Each card comes with a unique hand-drawn graphic printed on the front, and a spectacular steampunk gearbox on the back. With detailed vibrant prints, metallic accents, and high-quality papers, the cards are printed by the United States Playing Card Company and come with the highest of standards.

With the Art Of Steampunk playing cards, each individual card is an artpiece in its own right. Depending on which deck you choose (and there are multiple artwork decks to choose from), you get access to a unique catalog of 54 works of art spanning human characters dressed in steampunk garb as well as numbers styled in the iconic punk fashion. The different decks of cards showcase characters like magicians, warlocks, courtsmen, mercenaries, jokers, plague doctors, etc., with special number-specific decks too, if you just want something less ‘collectible-worthy’ and more traditional. Each deck of cards come with a special ‘K’ branded Kickstarter commemorative card, and a card with the signatures of the artists behind the visuals. The Tuck Case for the Art Of Steampunk cards is just as eye-catching as the cards within, with its own gearbox-inspired graphic.

The Art Of Steampunk Vol. 2 cards feature artworks that are entirely hand-drawn by a dedicated team of artists. The cards are printed on special sustainably sourced ‘forest-paper’ by the UPSCC with metallic inks, before being laminated and finished with an air-cushion finish for that perfect texture associated with high-quality poker cards. Go ahead and reserve your deck (before they’re all sold out) on the Kickstarter page below… it should serve you well, either as a spectacularly made art-collectible worth cherishing or as a deck of playing cards worthy of showing off to your friends when everyone can finally begin hosting poker nights again!

Designer: ARISTO PLAYING CARDS

Click Here to Buy Now: $12. Hurry, only 12/144 left! Limited Edition, No Reprint!

The Art of Steampunk Playing Cards Vol.2

The limited edition unique custom-made album goes in A4 format with Steampunk hand-drawings of all the court cards, aces and 2 jokers.

The Story

Once upon a time, in a Victorian era that never existed, the world was full of marvelous contraptions that were both functional and beautiful. Wondrous objects harnessed lightning, let individuals fly and travel through time, and protected their eyes in the most fashionable way. This is, in part, the vision of the Steampunk deck, a spinoff of science fiction.

The back design

Steampunk has a few interesting facts even for those aware of the culture, as well as giving newcomers a reasonable basis in the culture. The “steam” refers to steam power-as in fire-breathing machines of antique locomotion. The “punk” is an important reference to an outsider attitude. In The Art of Steampunk, VOL.2 you’ll discover the captivating and dynamic world of this emerging genre through the creative vision of today’s leading Steampunk artist.

A Look at Inspiring Steampunk Art

Iconic imagery and lots of metal detailing, luxury colors for 54 playing cards of steampunk art: they are mesmerizing, they are inspiring, and they could be a little dark sometimes. But no matter how violent or industrial you see these pieces to be, the ingenuity and creativity that lies behind them are just as inspiring as any other piece of art. With more than fifty two colorful playing cards, The Art of Steampunk, VOL.2 remains the unique deck on the subject of Steampunk.

A completely-custom & redesigned deck where all of the cards are unique!

– The Court Cards follow the characters in Steampunk outfit with heavy gun, bowler hat, goggle and military-inspired garments. – You see a huge contribution from the Victorian era: corsets, bustles, petticoats, and gowns – all with a modern twist to them.
– Accessories include parasols, timepieces, ray guns, and flying goggles.
– You also see a lot of post-apocalyptic elements like gas masks and ragged clothing.
– There is also military-inspired clothing, suits with waistcoats, top hats, and the like.
– The ACES are decorated in clockwork mechanism style with spiral springs and set of gears details.
– The JOKER card is a presentation of the distinctive “look” of a Plague Doctor.

Aristo Graphic Album Vol.2 Limited Edition. This unique custom-made album goes in A4 format with Steampunk hand-drawings of all the court cards, aces and 2 jokers.

– The PIPS combine elements of technofantasy imagery in mechanical steampunk style.
– In the VOL.2 the team decided to make classic Number Cards, with smooth and elegant design for those who use standard decks as a regular go-to, but still a pleasure to play and perform with.

Exquisite Custom Back Design: Inspired by old-world luxury, the line art pays homage to a vintage sophisticated aesthetic. The art in the backside is tastefully displayed with care to highlight the unique qualities that elicited the inclusion in the deck.

Deck Features

– Printed by The United States Playing Card Company.
– 100% completely custom designed cards, including art, pips, royalty, backs, everything.
– Packaged in a Custom Tuck Case.
– 56 cards including a full 52 card deck, plus 2 Jokers, the unique special “K” (Kickstarter) card & the card with Authors Signatures.
– Normal sized poker deck of playing cards.
– Air-Cushion Finish. Also known as Magic Finish.
– Traditional Cut.
– Everything is drawn by hand.
– The playing cards will have a metallic ink to make them shine more.

Click Here to Buy Now: $12. Hurry, only 12/144 left! Limited Edition, No Reprint!

Nixie tubes light up this outrageously steampunk coffee table!

Heavily inspired by the 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery, this steampunk’ish coffee table by Minnesota-based Machine Age Lamps is dope! The picture-perfect combination of retro-futurism with the contemporary Barnwood lends this furniture piece a sublime charm, without a doubt!

Perhaps, one that would fit a nerd’s den embellished with equally outrageous interior décor. But, hey, don’t even think of sporting your next-gen gaming console on top, it’ll be a chalk and cheese combination! Alright, coming onto the make – the coffee table has a rare, 100 years old Barnwood “salvaged from a Minessota USA barn” acting as the base section. On top, there is the half-inch thick glass top which gives an eye-popping look inside the steam pressure gauges and valves that urge you to own it right away. For the idealistic ambiance in the evenings or even while throwing a Halloween-themed party, you just have to turn up the nixie tubes underneath. There are six of them with dimmer switches hidden under the wood lip.

The network of pipes acts as the base of the coffee table, providing more than able support for the structure above it. In totality, there has been a lot of thought put into the crafting and it does show in the end product. So, how about getting this home for this holiday season?

Designer: Machine Age Lamps

Click Here to Buy Now!

The Bugatti Next-57 Concept looks like a glorious Chariot from a steampunk future!

Every car sits somewhere on a spectrum ranging from utilitarianism to craftsmanship. Some cars are more utilitarian than others, other cars showcase a level of artistry that makes them truly stand out… the Bugatti Next-57, I’d argue, sits so far on the artistic end of the spectrum that it really pushes the boundaries of how beautiful a car could look. Created as an homage to the classic Bugatti 57, the Next-57 celebrates every inch of the vintage car by modernizing it, exaggerating it, and making it even more beautiful. The result? A chariot fit for a king, with an incredibly elegant long body that tapers off at the front expose the axles on the front wheels, giving a chariot-like appearance, along with an interior that’s ensconced in luxurious red suede.

The black and red combination are a statement in their own right. Giving the car its mysterious, million-bucks appearance, the chariot’s gloss-black exterior is a magnet for sharp highlights and high contrasts, making it look like a jewel on the road. The car’s long body starts with its edge-lit headlights, sitting between the externally-placed wheels. The wheels are covered by fenders that half-cover it, revealing the luxurious constellation-inspired rims behind, that shine and rotate as the wheels turn.

Move your eye upwards and you arrive at the hood, which comes with its own flair that extends from the front and travels all the way to the top at the roof, creating a physical division that parts the driver’s view into left and right – perhaps not the most useful of details, but it’s worth remembering that the Next-57 is conceptual. This detail mirrors the original 57’s own aesthetic which came with its own metal spine that ran through the center of the car from front to back. The hood then develops an umbrella-esque texture before meeting the car’s rear, which features an elegant edge-lit taillight running from side to bottom to side.

The Bugatti Next-57 is a pretty long car, but it’s still made for just one rider. The car’s door opens to reveal a plush cockpit, draped in red suede. The seat even rotates to face you (almost as if it’s greeting you) and rotates back to face the dashboard once you’re seated. Get the car running and its electric engine powers to life (the use of a textured glass panel instead of a radiator grille leads me to believe the Next-57 has an electric heart)… and if you think the car is a pleasure to look at while it’s standing still, just watching the way the wheels and elongated fenders rotate as you steer the car should easily give you goosebumps! Hey Siri, what’s my heart-rate?

Designer: doinnext_cong

Retro 1940s-Inspired race-car concept is powered by an electric drivetrain!

The Helvezzia Tipo-6 exists in a parallel universe where electric vehicles were commonplace back in the 1940s. I wouldn’t be surprised though, if the world, plagued by the 2nd World War and the need to have an efficient way to transport humans and resources, developed electric cars on a mass-production scale.
[Fun Fact: EVs did, in fact, exist in the 1900s but were soon phased out after the discovery of large petroleum reserves in the USA]

Let’s step out of that scenario for a second to admire the beauty that is the Helvezzia Tipo-6 concept, an alt-reality race car with a 1940s-inspired exterior and a powerful electric interior. Designed specifically for racing, the Helvezzia Tipo-6 seats just one person with a pretty advanced looking dashboard featuring a steering wheel with gauges and switches, and a secondary set of gauges behind the steering. The car comes with a nice, tubular body, an open cockpit, and wheels that pop out of the bodywork, with hubcaps covering the rims entirely. There’s even a step knee located to the left of the driver, headlamps with their own covers too, and by far my favorite detail, that ridiculously beautiful chrome grille on the front, added purely for vanity purposes because an EV wouldn’t really need a radiator. Finally, the Helvezzia Tipo-6 caps off with a chrome rear, giving the entire car quite a unique retro-meets-modern vibe from front to back!

Designer: Alexander Imnadze Baldini

This moon coffee maker will make your morning missions easy!

If you are a coffee addict then you will feel excited about new appliances that increase the joy you feel when brewing! This conceptual coffee machine is very unlike the espresso makers in the market and it’s the aesthetics that set it apart. It is a dream machine for people who love coffee and space exploration equally (like me!).

The compact capsule shape makes it look like a moon lander for your counter and is obviously powered by caffeine which is only the second most powerful fuel after rocket fuel! The designer’s main focus was to retain some of the rawness and the mechanical steampunk look of the traditional Italian espresso makes while maintaining a clean shape that adds character to the product. There is a tubular water/steam container at the back which I feel can be extended down for added support for the appliance. There is also another container for your beans which I assume leads to a small grinder mechanism inside so you only get the freshest cup of joe each time. Overall, the shape is very unique and combines the nostalgic steampunk elements with clean, smooth curves for a balanced modern machine.

I almost feel like this should come with a voice feature that does a countdown to when your coffee is ready. “I’ve always been fascinated with those big chrome machines that almost looked like a small lab, it made me think about how we perceive coffee now when the whole ritual is being reduced to a capsule and a press of a button. When sitting down to settle on my concept I thought how can I incorporate this love for mechanical and tactile looking objects, with an updated clean look? Can I make a coffee machine that looks scientific but also has a cute character?” says Yehuda. T – 10 seconds till I have my second (or fourth) cup!

Designer: Roee Ben Yehuda

The BMW R100 gets an absolutely gorgeous custom steampunk makeover!

New bike, hu dis? It’s hard to believe that this steampunk beauty was once a 1980 BMW R100 RS. Props go to the Dirk Oehlerking’s Kingston Custom who modified the two-wheeler as a part of their Phantom Series, calling it the Good Ghost.

Created on the request of automobile-patron Bobby Haas (of the Haas Moto Museum), the Good Ghost’s aesthetic evolves on the other two bikes in Kingston’s Phantom Series, with a design that feels more superior and like an evolutionary progression. In classic Kingston fashion, the custom comes with little to no change to the bike’s original chassis. Everything is additive, with painstakingly hand-shaped 2mm-thick aluminum paneling covering the underlying structure of the bike in glorious steampunk fashion. The bike’s bulbous body-work sort of feels like a floating ghost, with a sheet draped over it. The outer clad conceals both wheels, and comes with a continuous leather saddle that goes from the dashboard to the very end. This design detail involved cutting into the fuel-tank, but Dirk fixed that problem by fabricating a small fuel cell to sit behind the transmission, with an external fuel pump to send the gas where it needs to go.

While the entire bike is an exercise in being visually interesting, Dirk of Kingston Custom went out of his way to outfit the Good Ghost with a variety of really eye-catching details. For starters, the bike comes with BMW’s signature split kidney grille, a detail that’s iconic to the company’s cars. Move past the flush headlight and onto the seat and you’ll notice the whole thing is upholstered in leather, including the dashboard. The entire seat lifts up to reveal a tiny compartment underneath that – wait for it – holds a bottle of wine and a glass. The lift mechanism for the seat even has a corkscrew and a spare spark-plug. You’re not allowed to drink and drive but you can surely carry a bottle of merlot with you wherever you go. A flap beside the rear wheel opens to reveal a comprehensive toolkit, and since Dirk imagined the Good Ghost to be a “gentleman’s bike”, the flap on the opposite side stores a selection of century-old silverware. The design finally transitions to its unusual rear, a pointed flair that not only combines both tailpipes, but also houses the Good Ghost’s taillight.

The Good Ghost is a culmination of a lot of eccentric ideas, but somehow, they all make for a great looking bike that, Dirk says, “When you ride it, it feels like you are in a different time.” The bike is all set to become a part of Bobby Haas’s precious collection at the Haas Moto Museum in Dallas, Texas.

Designer: Kingston Custom