Aside from countless dirty memories that each of the cars would no doubt cherish for the rest of their lives, some manner of illegitimate love child would most likely result from the carnal happenings. As it happens, it would look something like Hyundai's newest luxury sedan, and no i'm not talking about the Genesis.
The Korean auto makers new luxury sedan has been dubbed the Equus, and if you had trouble wrapping your mouth around that, it's Latin for Horse, but if that doesn't help don't worry to much over it, there is a large possibility that Hyundai will swap the nameplate for the western market.
Although unfamiliar to our western shores, the Equus has been a long standing institution in Korea and China, offering a more affordable and familiar luxury alternative to the German elite.
The Equus is newest flagship manifestation of Hyundai's re-born image as a car manufacturer, a re-birth that began with the aptly name Genesis. Focussing on a combination of luxury and build quality, Hyundai, aided by the market gaps created by collapse of the North American auto industry aimed it's well equipped sales weapon straight at the european luxury car giants.
The Equus begins where the Genesis left off, increasing the level of luxury along with the wheelbase (6-inches longer than it's little brother,) placing Hyundai in a league that is as unfamiliar to it, as it's badge is to the companies it will now be competing with, the German luxury aristocracy. Two different capacity choices of V8's will be given to get the horse galloping along, but it will need a little extra under the hood to make it competitive with the other performance jockeys like Mercedes' AMG version of the S-Class.
The interior is dressed in the usual luxury ingredients of wood, aluminum and leather, with the top of the line model sporting Maybach style reclining rear seats, folding rear work tables, a glovebox ice chest for wine coolers and a rear flat-screen computer syster to watch re-runs of Dog The Bounty Hunter. Driver aids will include a park assist system, adaptive headlights, radar guided cruise control, a lane departure warning system and a collision warning system (a pricy name for what most people would call the combination of a brain, a steering wheel and good anti-lock brakes.)
It all sounds like delicious recipe until you sit down and really think about it, and then the souffle collapses. Every one of the driver aids that listed were pioneered by Mercedes with the iconic S-Class sedan, only they were pioneered in the early years of the last decade, and Mercedes and much of the competition have moved on to bigger and better things. It's a little bit like someone showing up to a party wearing baggy jeans, a backwards red Yankees cap and asking if anyone wants to listen to Rollin' by Limp Bizkut, they'll get laughed at, the promptly asked to leave.
In keeping with recent tradition, the Hyundai badge as we know it is tastefully absent from the front facia, instead it has been replaced with a crest and what appears to be an imitation of the winged lady of Rolls Royce fame, undoubtedly a misshapen homage to her later years, when she was diagnosed with leprosy.
With the Equus set to hit western shores by the late to end of this calender year, prices have been speculated from anywhere around $50, 000 mark to a stomach turning $90, 000. It will be no surprise if the American market has trouble swallowing that price considering of Hyundai's reputation as a cheap alternative at best, the luxury concept may be one to far gone for westerners to grasp.
For such a steep price tag, Hyundai better pray that it's little baby Equus grows into black beauty and not wither into an old, arthritic, half-lame, half-retarded donkey.
