The Curbs design starts with the glass that spills into the hood and wraps around the cowl, covering the A pillars. This look resembles the face shield of a sport bike motorcycle helmet. Beneath the glass are structural trusses with the glass panels applied like a shield.
The truss frame structure going up the pillars helps increase greater visibility in dense urban environments, said John Krsteski, Curb design manager.
The striking profile is dominated by a boomerang trajectory bodyside line. This dominate line brings the entire design together and reinforces the feeling of strength with its positive and negative shapes.
The world has never seen lines like this on a car before. It is as if the architect Santiago Calatrava inspired it, said Arash Badeanlou, Hyundai designer.
The thin, sleek headlamps and taillamps dive into the vehicle, creating the illusion that they are connected into the engine compartment or interior. To complete the technology rugged look, designers added 22-inch five spoke wheels and Michelin tires with a custom saffron colored tread pattern to match the interior. These wheels have spokes set into the tires to make them have a more pronounced profile. To enter the Curb, one simply drags their finger across a touch pad to open the doors.
The exhaust vents serve a dual purpose. They pop out to reveal a bike rack so the owner could park and ride a Fixie (fixed gear) bike to the rest of his destinations as an alternative transportation source. The roof also features pop-up roof rack towers, demonstrating the perfect blend of being rugged, yet high-tech. Curb has a lighted clam shell rear hatch, also opened via a touchpad for loading gear and a third rear access door for easy passenger ingress and egress.
At startup, the Curbs numerous LED lights illuminate sequentially, starting with the outside rows and the Curbs badging illuminates through the paint. Shamze Custom Coatings developed the One-Way paint finish allowing the Curb name to illuminate through the paint.