I must admit, I do quite like a strange special edition. Cars that aren’t necessarily faster or sharper than the standard model, but instead have some sort of unusual visual thing or co-branding going on. Think Nissan Rogue Krom with its pantomime center exhausts. However, some unusual special editions are extra-unusual, like the 2019 Hyundai Kona Iron Man Edition. Jarvis, check in on the status of my ten-year powertrain warranty.
While special-edition vehicles themed after sci-fi franchises aren’t unheard of (hello Terminator 2 Edition Toyota Tundra), this might be the most dramatic. Then again, it needs to be. If you’re going to unveil a vehicle at San Diego Comic-Con, you better come correct, and that’s exactly what Hyundai did at the 2018 convention.
To create the Iron Man Edition, Hyundai started with the absolute top rung of the Kona range, the Ultimate trim. With a turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine mated to a don’t-creep-on-the-clutch-in-traffic seven-speed dry DCT, this thing could genuinely get out of its own way. It was feature-rich too, with a navigation system, an Infinity eight-speaker stereo, a heated steering wheel, wireless smartphone charging, basically the works. However, during peak Marvel mania, Hyundai thought it needed some extra pizazz.
Since Stark Industries’ branding in the Marvel films is basically modelled after Lockheed Martin, it made sense for Hyundai to go with a stealthy matte-black finish. However, that low-reflectivity paint sort of hides one of the most amazing parts of the Kona Iron Man Edition: This limited-run trim level got its own unique front bumper. Not only was the valence different than on the standard Kona, Hyundai put vents where the amber side reflectors would normally go, then fitted a different sort of side reflectors closer to the wheel arch lips.
Oh, and that’s not the only lighting change on the car. How about blacked-out guts for the headlights and daytime running lights, along with a set of red-and-white taillights that—as far as I can tell—weren’t used on any other Kona? Considering how expensive modern headlights are, Hyundai really pulled out all the stops on this front. Talk about commitment.
Of course, the color most associated with Iron Man is red, and that’s exactly what you get splashes of around this Kona’s exterior. A contrasting roof, inserts on a unique hood garnish, trim pieces on the front and rear ends, red mirror caps, red on the lower doors, even red on the wheels. However, a two-tone treatment does not alone make a special edition. The branding’s all over this one, from Iron Man’s Mask on the fenders and wheels to “Iron Man” across the liftgate trim to a mask-inspired graphic on the roof. It’s certainly not subtle, but I appreciate how it’s not half-assed. Of course, there are two main sacrifices with the Iron Man exterior treatment: The sunroof and the fog lights. For the right Marvel fan, that would be no hardship.
Moving to the interior, I’m once again impressed by just how hard Hyundai went here. They didn’t need to redesign the gauge cluster, infotainment interface, and HUD welcome animation with an Iron Man theme, but they did. Sure, they also splashed some red across the interior trim, but specially embossed, embroidered, stitched, and piped seats and a shift knob that looks like the famous arc reactor also show more than just basic attention to detail. Hyundai even screen-printed Tony Stark’s signature on the dashboard. That’s something, for sure.
Admittedly, I don’t fully understand the Marvel thing. I’ve appreciated the handful of MCU films I’ve seen for pretty good action sequences, but the lore isn’t really my bag. I’m also just naturally skeptical of most branded things, but I have to give Hyundai credit here; the automaker made a proper effort, and for a relatively low volume too. While 7,000 were made globally, they were sold in a massive array of markets from the U.S. to Britain to Korea to Australia. Thus, it shouldn’t be surprising that only three are for sale on Cars.com right now in the entire country, with this 50,729-mile example in Chicago being the cheapest at $17,499.
So, if you ever see one of these rare 2019 Hyundai Kona Iron Man Edition models out in the wild, now you’ll know it isn’t just someone going wild with a Cricut and an Amazon Prime account. It’s the real deal, and Hyundai went pretty hard with it. Even though it’s not to everyone’s tastes, stuff like this makes general traffic more interesting, and that’s a good thing.
Top graphic image: Hyundai
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I worked at Hyundai when this was announced. My job was to confirm that floor mats would fit and confirm there weren’t any changes. The car sort of just appeared and we really didn’t know it was coming. So very little time to prepare. I had to go to comic con to even review it since Hyundai corporate couldn’t even find us a car to check out.
It was a weird tie in and we were all confused why it even showed up. I never saw another one until years later at the airport.
It’s not quite as cool as the Sweet Leaf edition
About 2 weeks ago I encountered one of these during my morning commute with a Sr. behind the wheel who was definitely old enough to remember when Robert Downy Jr. was actually cool. Now, given that Hyundai/Kia special editions are not my Forte (see what I did there?) the only reason I gave it more than a passing glance was the fact this little hot hatch was smoking harder than RDJ in Natural Born Killers. I’m talking full on Spy Hunter mode with smoke almost as blue as the pilot’s hair. As I blew past, the Stark contrast of the Special Edition body cladding caught my attention.
“WTF was that?” I thought.
Now I know.
Subaru was the title sponsor of Ironman events in Canada for quite a while, but after that, the sponsor was Vinfast.
I thought I had seen some Ironman edition Subarus in the Penticton area, but they were probably just the sponsor wrapped cars.
I believe it was a Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines edition. And it’s pretty lame, just some vinyl graphics.
For T-2, the big Toyota truck was the T-100, prior to using the Tundra name. T-100 was also model name for Arnie’s Terminator, so there was some cross promotion in TV ads. Not sure if Toyota offered a special Terminator T-100 or not.
OK, upon reading the headline, my mind initially went to triathlons.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought it was going to be “Ironman” the triathlon, not “Ironman” the character. Did Marvel even have Tony drive Hyundais in the movies as a thank you?
Off the top of my head, I’m pretty sure he drove an Audi R8 (or two?) and maybe an Acura? I don’t recall him driving a Hyundai (although a custom Veloster was prominently featured in one scene from the second Ant-Man movie)
Right? The font and colour of the badge on the hatch looks like the triathlon brand… and what did Hyundai have to do with any of the Marvel movies? Did they provide all the vehicles getting trashed and blown up?
One of these lives near me and I see it driving around town almost daily. Their other car? A VW Routan. So if that’s not the lowest production run of otherwise beige vehicles in one household, I don’t know what is.
You’ll never be the VehiCROSS.
On a good day I aspire to reach VehiPEAVED
From the headline I expected a triathlon tie in. Kona is the most famous Ironman venue and IIRC Isuzu did a Vehicross model. Since I view triathlons as a way to ruin a bicycle ride and an object of ridicule I was all set to laugh and wonder why Hyundai never did a Kona MTB edition.
I know very little about Marvel comics since my interest began and ended with early Batman so the appeal bypassed me.
BTW bumpers, blinds and so on have valances, valence is electrons in an atom, I used to know more but my high school chemistry class was before most of the Autopian staff was born
Agreed. The triathlon tie in is the first thing I thought of. Add a bike rack, some Hyundai water bottles, maybe a waterproof rear cargo area with flip-out rear seat…
However, in this world, the Marvel movie fans outnumber triathlon fans at least 100 to 1. Although, Bentley did create this, https://www.motortrend.com/news/bentley-introduces-bentayga-falconry-mulliner
Specialized falconry cars have been a big seller with oil sheikhs for years, starting with six wheel Range Rovers in the 70s. The Bentley is noteworthy as a factory job rather than aftermarket.
Jumping the shark now, are we?
I just saw one of these in Annapolis a couple weeks ago! I actually was “WTF am I looking at” as I don’t recall ever reading about it when it was released. Like the CoD Wrangler, one must really like the character/game/movie/multiverse to own one.
It is rare and therefore cool. I’d rock one.
Too bad they didn’t give all of the Kona trims this treatment, as it hides the ugly a lot better. I try not to hate on things too much, but the normal Kona is definitely not a looker.
I heard this car won “Best Cosplay” at San Diego Comic Con that year.
The Ant Man Veloster was livid.
I remember seeing one of these in the dealership, I was just baffled as to who these were for.
My neighbor who has a 3rd grade son who is an Iron Man fan (as is mom) is who. (Awkward phrasing, -5 pts) Considering the top trim level, I suspect others may have been sold on that basis as well.
It’s actually pretty sharp looking in person, and I didn’t realize the amount of customizing that went into it. Great detailed article, I will look closer at it from now on…
Since it is a Kona, I was thinking this would be the Triathlete IRONMAN and not Marvel.
https://www.ironman.com/races/im-world-championship-kona
I genuinely thought the same thing lol
I like it, but they really should’ve leaned into the red and gold rather than stealthy black. That said, in 2018 I was seriously considering a Nissan Rogue Star Wars special edition until I realized it was mostly just some stickers on a so-so white CUV. The Hyundai goes much further with the special treatment.
I have seen one of these in the grocery store parking lot a handful of times. I also 100% assumed that the guy who owned it had customized it himself.