Galatea thinks Hyundai Tiburon is perfect platform for coachbuilt styling

Examples of high-end coachwork usually draw long, wistful stares and high levels of admiration, with skilled craftsmen taking something beautiful and creating something stunning. An Aston Martin DB4 is a wonderful machine, but a 1960 DB4 GT Zagato looks so good it'll melt your face clean off. Same with the James Glickenhaus-owned Ferrari Enzo that evolved into the P4/5. The examples of high style and peerless engineering are as numerous as they are arresting. And then this showed up in our inbox.

This is the Galatea (pronounced: Gal-ah-tay-ah) Revision, a custom coupe built upon none other than the – you guessed it – Hyundai Tiburon. Says Galatea:

"Unlike many kit cars that are based on a fairly old donor car, the Galatea is a comparatively modern car with modern features...The kit is available for $5,180 in fiberglass and includes all lights, hardware, emblems, and a detailed instruction book to make installation easier. The parts included are a new hood, fenders, front bumper, headlights, rear bumper, and taillights."

While it's certainly not the worst custom Tiburon we've ever seen (you'll see far, far worse at any HIN show), it doesn't quite evoke the spirit of true coachbuilt styling. It's a body kit. An elaborate, ambitious and oddly proportioned body kit, but a body kit nonetheless. It seems strangely appropriate that Galatea has chosen this particular Hyundai coupe as a basis for the project, as the Tiburon itself was both widely criticised and lauded for deriving its styling from a much more exotic automobile – the Ferrari 456 GT.

If you own a last-gen Tibby or just want to see it in person for yourself, the Revision will be making its debut at the Alpine Invitational Car Show and Concorso d'Eleganza on October 10 in Palisades, NY.