Kia bought the rights and tooling to build the Lotus Elan after Lotus ended production of the M100-generation Elan in 1995 and produced a South Korean-built, badge-engineered model sold as the Kia Elan and Kia Vigato.
The Kia Elan is largely the same as the British Lotus Elan M100, a rare front-wheel-drive Lotus, though Kia replaced Renault-sourced taillights with its own round-light units. It was marketed as the Kia Vigato in some markets.
Lotus halted Elan production in June 1992 after 3,855 cars, and Romano Artioli, who acquired Lotus in 1993, relaunched the model as the Series 2 in summer 1994, with about 800 cars built through 1995. Series 2 cars were all turbocharged and fitted with catalytic converters, while around a hundred Series 1 cars lacked turbocharging.
Lotus invested about $58 million in the Elan program for new buildings, tooling and facilities; after two production stoppages and ownership changes, the Elan rights and tooling were sold to Kia.
This report is based on information originally published by The Autopian.
Read the full article at The Autopian.
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