Kia - From Rags to Riches



The Sportage is one of the more successful cars in the burgeoning medium sized SUV class

When I was younger, the parents of a friend of mine owned a white 3 door Kia Pride LX from the early 90's. It was a basic but dependable little thing. Ultimately just a re-badged Mazda 121, Kia did a deal with Mazda to produce the car under license in South Korea. The Pride was dated when Kia started selling it - Mazda ended production of the 121 in 1991 when Kia launched the car in the UK. Despite its optimistic name, the Pride created a solid foundation for Kia in Europe lasting until 2000, despite its budget underpinnings and whitewall tyres.
The reason for this post is to acknowledge how far Kia have come. Now it's the South Korean brand who are giving the likes of Ford, Vauxhall/Opel and Peugeot/Citroen sleepless nights. I think the transformation is staggering although to some extent understandable - South Korea and Asia as a whole have grown tremendously over the last number of decades with a high-tech outlook. Just look at the city of Seoul and you can see what I mean - a buzzing metropolis.

The Niro combines a petrol-electric drivetrain with the popular crossover bodystyle. Inoffensive to the eyes...unlike its Prius rival  

The turning point for Kia came in 1998 when fellow South Korean car giant Hyundai bought the group. To be honest, both produced similar cars up to this point - their models were always cheap, basic and tended to trade heavily on discounts. Kia produced cars such as the utilitarian first generation Sportage 4x4, Mentor and Shuma hatchbacks whilst Hyundai screwed together rather shameful offerings. Pony, Accent or Atos anyone?
There was the odd surprise. How about the Kia Elan? Kia bought the rights from Lotus and started making the sportscar in 1996. It's certainly not the first badge you expect to see on the bonnet of a two-seater sports car that's for sure...

The Picanto city car is a stylish little thing and does exactly what it says on the tin

Ever since this merger, Kia and Hyundai have shared platforms, engines and running gear and both brand's products are a world away from their rudimentary beginnings. In terms of the group's market positioning, Hyundai see themselves as becoming semi-premium, (a bit like Volkswagen) whereas Kia have attempted to appear more youthful with models that feature a dynamic-led form of design. (The group will shortly start their journey into the premium sector with Genesis).
Anyway, I digress...Whichever way you look at it, Kia models today are 100 times more rounded than they were in years gone by. Design, engineering and driving dynamics are now at a level where they are on a par with what were historically the more traditional mainstream European offerings.
Twenty years ago, one would never have used the word 'stylish' to describe a Kia. Thanks to ex-Audi TT designer Peter Schreyer, the look of more recent models, particularly from the Mk3 Sportage onwards have upped the manufacturer's game in the fashion stakes. Schreyer's 'tiger mouth' front end styling has given Kia a distinctive corporate identity. Interior quality and fit and finish is also at a competitively high standard.

The Kia GT concept shown at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show gives a glimpse of a new halo GT model due in the next couple of years

Kia have also heavily invested in Europe with R&D, design and manufacturing sites all present on the continent. The continuation of ever more competitive products along with the draw of Kia's impressive 7 year warranty can only mean one thing - continued growth.
It'll be just as fascinating seeing where Kia goes from here. Share your views... What are your thoughts on Kia's past, present and future?...

Beaulieu Motor Museum

1981 Ford Escort, World Rally winner

Not far from the rather charming town of Lyndhurst lies Beaulieu and the National Motor Museum situated in the New Forest, Hampshire.
The Forest is a rather unique and beautiful place to walk, cycle and, (if your that way inclined) to camp. There's something rather picturesque about seeing horses roam free that gives this National Park a sense of escapism, despite not being far from London or Southampton.
The Motor Museum itself lies in the Beaulieu estate, home of the Montagu family since 1538. Lord Montagu was a lover of cars as well as a British motoring pioneer and it's from him that the collection began. There's plenty of veteran vehicles from the early days of this collection including a De Dion Bouton and a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. It's important to point out that the Motor Museum is only one feature when visiting Beaulieu - the Palace House and Beaulieu Abbey and Gardens are the other main attractions when visiting the estate.

Ferrari Dino

 The National Motor Museum features not only a selection of the aforementioned veteran and vintage vehicles such as the Ford Model T but also more modern cars from the 60's and 70's including the Mini and Triumph Herald. There are also cars from racing including F1 and rally cars along with a number of land speed record vehicles, one of which is the Bluebird. I'm not - but if your a fan of motorbikes then Beaulieu will be up your street as there is quite a collection.
Work was recently completed on a new mezzanine floor which will mean that the museum will be able to hold more cars for future visitors to enjoy. Along with a fantastic library and archive facility (great if you are planning on doing any research), the National Motor Museum is a must if you are a car lover. Of course, there's also the bonus of those lovely surroundings...

Rolls Royce Silver Cloud

Scotland's Baby - The Hillman Imp

The Hillman Imp of 1963 was compromised, even before it went on sale

I've been racking my brains trying to think of the Hillman Imp in popular culture. The closest I've got to is of Frank Spencer driving one in the 70's sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em. The hapless character portrayed by Michael Crawford got stuck on the Isle of Sheppey bridge before driving at high speed off a pier into the English Channel where the car subsequently sank. Spencer who was taking a driving test at the time shouted to the escaping examiner 'Have I passed'?... The scene was rather fitting - the Imp pretty much sank Hillman too...
Back in the early 60's, BMC's Mini was selling like hot cakes and the Rootes Group wanted a slice of the action. Work started on the 'Apex' project which resulted in the Hillman Imp, a small car that arrived in 1963, four years after the Mini's launch. This was also the first small Rootes designed vehicle since the Second World War.
On paper the Imp featured a revolutionary design. The engine was a rear mounted 875cc all aluminium unit sourced from Coventry Climax, an engine popular in racing. Hillman's design featured a different cylinder head and was slanted 45 degrees to improve packaging and weight distribution. In an effort to improve handling over other rear engined cars on the market, the Imp's rear suspension featured an independent semi-trailing arm. This meant that the little Hillman was a costly and sophisticated affair in its development.

Snazzier models such as this failed to mask the fact that the 'Apex' project was deeply flawed. Government meddling didn't help either

Unfortunately this development period was a nightmare! The Rootes Group were running out of space at their Ryton manufacturing plant near Coventry and it just so happened that the Labour government of the day had an unemployment blackspot on their hands. They issued a grant to Rootes to build a new computerised assembly plant in a town called Linwood, just outside of Glasgow where unemployment was rife. The area used to have a heavy shipbuilding industry; however, many jobs had been lost as times changed and the area on the Clyde needed investment.
On the face of it, this deal appeared to make sense but not much thought was given to the logistics of the situation. Linwood was 300 miles away from Ryton. Engine castings were made in Linwood, sent to Ryton where they were machined and assembled and then transported back up to Scotland for final vehicle assembly. Inefficiency was key and time and money was wasted due to this ill conceived manufacturing process.
Another angle the government failed to take into account was the fact that the shipbuilding workforce employed to make the cars had no prior experience in doing so. Poor build quality and less than impressive reliability became the end result. Industrial disputes quickly followed and strikes began - 31 of them took place in 1964 alone.

The Imp was rear engined which meant no radiator grille was required. It's believed that this one was the first off the line

Thanks in no small part to a hurried launch, the Imp was fundamentally underdeveloped and suffered spectacularly because of it. Cooling was a big problem and Hillman even included a wheel brace to help start the engine in case the electrics failed! Owners weren't informed of how to maintain the alloy engine properly either.
It's a shame that things turned out this way; after all, the Imp was heralded as a revolutionary small car and although the reliability issue improved over the years, the rot had set in. Half of the total production run of just under 500,000 units were sold in the first 3 years alone!
The Rootes Group quickly began launching other models in order to keep the project alive. These included an estate of the Imp called the Hillman Husky, a van called the Commer Imp (Commer was the Rootes Group's commercial vehicle arm) and the Hillman Imp Californian.
The Californian was an oddity... The main difference to the saloon was a more steeply raked profile, in effect to make a coupe. Unfortunately it was even more compromised than the standard car. The Imp's fold down rear seats were now fixed as was the opening rear window. If ever there was a car that could be accused of being style over substance, this was it.
Further badge engineering began with the introduction of the Singer Chamois and Sunbeam Sport, spurned on by low sales volumes. Prices for the Imp were also slashed to encourage people to take a chance on Hillman's baby.

The Imp was especially popular north of the border, thanks to its Scottish roots

The Imp ended up accelerating the undoing of the Coventry based manufacturer. Lord William Rootes began partnership talks with Chrysler in 1964, just a year after the Linwood factory was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh. Lord Rootes ended up passing away before a deal was completed and Chrysler took full control of the business. Imp prices were slashed further until production ended in 1976. Two years later Peugeot bought the Rootes Group from Chrysler and set about reviving Talbot, a brand that was part of the Rootes portfolio. Once the Imp had been discontinued, the remaining Hillman range consisted of just the Hunter and Avenger saloons. By 1981 Hillman was no more - the Linwood plant closed with 5000 redundancies. Peugeot just couldn't see a way forward.
The 'Apex' project was ambitious. Unfortunately the Imp never got anywhere near the sales of the Mini. Who knows, maybe if there was more time spent on developing the car, training the workforce and less interference from government, things may have been different...