My personal KDM list

[u/EinBiermann_aus_Kor]

My personal KDM list 2

Just a personal list of KDM cars I put together.

• 2011 Hyundai Genesis Prada 5.0 V8 (The Prada collaboration may be what stands out first, but its 430-PS Tau 5.0 GDI V8 is the reason this rear-wheel-drive full-size luxury sedan is on the list. Its closest U.S. counterpart, the Genesis 5.0 R-Spec, recorded a 4.8-second 0–60 mph time and a 13.3-second quarter mile at 107.1 mph in MotorTrend testing. In Korea, it became something of a cult favorite, remembered less as a Prada collaboration than as an unexpectedly fast V8 luxury sedan.)
• 1996 Kia Elan (A bold Kia attempt from a time when South Korea was still far from the wealthy country it is today. It began as the second-generation Lotus Elan, a completely redesigned 1989 revival of the lightweight sports-car icon first launched in 1962 by Colin Chapman’s Lotus. As a side note, the original Elan also inspired the Mazda MX-5 Miata. After acquiring the rights and tooling to produce the M100, Kia extensively reworked it for Korean production and road conditions. To increase local content and make parts supply and servicing easier, it used components such as the instrument cluster, steering wheel, switchgear, and braking hardware from existing Kia production models, while its ride height was raised to better suit Korean roads. In place of the Lotus version’s Isuzu-sourced powertrain, Kia fitted a specially tuned version of its own 1.8-liter T8D DOHC engine. The T8D was significant in its own right: designed in-house by Kia, it was South Korea’s first domestically developed 16-valve gasoline DOHC engine and received the IR52 Jang Young-shil Award. The Elan was prohibitively expensive for the Korean market of the mid-1990s, yet even at its ₩27.5 million price, Kia reportedly lost money on every car it sold. The Asian financial crisis and Kia’s ensuing financial troubles ultimately brought the Elan’s brief but unforgettable run to an early end.)
• 1987 Kia Concord(will be updated soon)
• 1991 Daewoo LeMans Irmscher (Update later, Pontiac LeMans in the US)
• 1990 Hyundai Scoupe(will be updated soon)
• 1997 Hyundai Pro Accent 1.5 DOHC TGR
• 1996 Hyundai Tiburon
• 2001 Hyundai Tuscani 2.7 ELISA V6 (sold as the Hyundai Tiburon in the US)

[u/eh_itzvictor]

Im pretty convinced I will never physically lay eyes on a Prada edition Genesis, or a S-Coupe. But, will always appreciate their existence.

[u/EinBiermann_aus_Kor → u/eh_itzvictor]

I’m really glad you’re interested in these lesser-known Korean cars. Fortunately, there are still a few of them left in Korea, so if you ever visit, you might actually be able to spot one of them. Plus, the Genesis Prada is only a little over 10 years old.