Javillac
Although talking about a Kia as a classic car may seem a bit strange, the truth is that the South Korean company will celebrate its 80th anniversary next December since its foundation. To celebrate it, it has presented this electric Kia Pride, although, in its first years of history, the The company manufactured steel material and later moved on to motorcycle components.
It was not until 1974 when Kia manufactured its first conventional car; the Kia Brisa, but previously they had produced motorcars and under license several Mazda and Fiat models, including the multifaceted 124. Although The South Korean firm was able to make itself known abroad by starting to manufacture the Kia Pride in 1987, a compact model based on the Mazda 121 and which Ford also marketed in America as the Ford Festiva with great sales success.
KIA PRIDEV, AN ELECTRIC TRIBUTE TO THE CAR THAT PUT KIA ON THE MAP
The Kia Pride was manufactured between 1987 and 2000, and during that time it saw great success in several countries around the world, even being produced in places such as Iran under the brand. SAIPA. Perhaps referring to the name “Pride”, which means pride in English, Kia has revived this famous compact car from the 1990s and converted it into an electric vehicle to mark its eightieth anniversary.
In charge of this conversion has been the British restomod workshop Electrogenic, known for converting models such as the Citroën DS, Jaguar E-Type or DMC Delorean to electric, sparking controversy with each project. But the Kia Pridev, as the creation has been christened, has had a better reception, partly because it was an idea driven by Kia, and because it is a much less sought-after car than the previous ones, although only 15 units survive in the United Kingdom at present.
The car, which was manufactured in 1996, has gone from having a 1,3-litre, 61-hp four-cylinder engine to having an electric motor powered by two 10 KW batteries that can develop 109 hp and 235 Newton-meters of torque, figures that are more than surprising for a car of its characteristics and increasing the weight by only eighty kilos compared to the original. As for its autonomy, it is close to 190 kilometers and can be charged in six hours on a conventional charger.
WITH GEAR SHIFT
The Kia Pride electric car has three driving modes, including the so-called “Eco” mode that limits power to 61 hp to emulate the feeling of the Pride with a combustion engine. What has been most surprising has been the preservation of the Five-speed manual transmission with clutch pedal included.
Obviously, this makes driving this car more interesting, although this anda had been done in the 90s with the electric version of the SEAT Marbella which was manufactured only in Italy.
Images from Kia, Electrogenic and Ford.
