9 posts tagged “korea”

We watched this (thanks again to Tanya) at the office a few days ago:

   Hyundai, which made one of the cars that got squashed by the 62-year-old woman in the BMW X5 (she has since been arrested), saw a publicity opportunity, and presented the owner with a brand-new i30 Wagon (Elantra Touring in Canada). I know, it’s an opportunity made for bloggers to blog about worldwide, but you know, I really don’t mind being a sucker on this and post this video knowing its purpose. It is a happy ending, as the company says, but it’s also a great brand equity-builder on a global level. It shows that Hyundai is responsive to web culture, and has given its concessionaires and subsidiaries the clout to pull these things off for the good of its customers. It ties in to a promise at the start of the recession that the company would help with customers’ car payments if they lost their jobs.
   One big mistake is that the Toyota Avanza (the car behind the lucky recipient) is in shot for a lot longer than the Hyundai that the owner, Todd Jamison, was presented with.

For some reason my brain has stopped working this Saturday, which can only benefit Autocade. Here are some of the models that were recently added, including some very rare Korean models. In fact, these are so rare there is no detailed mention of them on Wikipedia (the site I love to hate) yet the first listed here, the Saenara, is an important milestone in the history of the Korean motor industry, being its first proper passenger car. All four were built by companies that eventually became Daewoo.

Saenara (P310). 1962–3 (prod. 2,773). 4-door sedan. F/R, 1189 cm³ (4 cyl. OHV). Korean edition of Nissan Bluebird (P310), Korea’s first locally produced postwar sedan. Built on what was a modern assembly line. Styling, while 1950s in flavour, considered attractive in the Korean home market. Engine derived from Austin unit, with 55 hp.

Chevrolet 1700. 1972–8 (prod. 8,105). 4-door sedan, 5-door wagon. F/R, 1692 cm³ (4 cyl. CIH). Holden Torana (LJ), made by Saehan of Korea. Essentially a facsimile of the Australian original, but for an unusual station wagon model that looked more like an Opel at the back. Robust, but a failure on the Korean market, thanks to a perception that it was thirsty (the oil crisis did not help). In theory replaced by facelifted Camina in 1976, though it ran alongside it.

Camina. 1976–8 (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/R, 1492 cm³ (4 cyl. CIH). Facelifted Holden Torana (LJ). No Chevrolet badge; made by GM Korea venture Saehan. Ran concurrently with Chevrolet 1700, which had proved a flop in Korea. Fairly tidy facelift, with the more modern, if bland, Chevrolet-like front end blending well with Torana’s mid-Pacific styling. Short production, and replaced (none too soon) by the Saehan Gemini, a version of the Isuzu Gemini (1976–9).

Daewoo Imperial. 1989–93 (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/R, 2969 cm³ (6 cyl. OHC). Poshest vehicle on the GM V-car (Opel Rekord E) platform, Imperial was the ultimate development of the series at Daewoo. Conceived as a response to the Hyundai Sonata and Grandeur, with styling apeing top Chryslers (notably the last Imperial and the New Yorker) and Japanese luxury sedans. Formal roofline, and new front and rear ends, hid the Opel Senator roots. Double-D ornament on grille. Engine size meant to surpass what Hyundai had put in to the Sonata—the unit was shared with the Senator, and developed 156 hp.

Here are some executive cars that you might not have come across—or you may have, but not often. A few entries on Autocade. I was going to say how none of them are German, but some of you might argue the first one is—sort of.

Daewoo Prince. 1991–7 (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/R, 1796, 1998 cm³ (4 cyl. OHC), 1998 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC). Development of earlier Opel Commodore C-based Royale (GM V-car), but with some new sheetmetal. Prince, like Royale, had ideas above its station and was marketed as a large, luxury car in Korea. Dated at this point but considered a top model for Daewoo (below the similar Royal Salon and Brougham), until it began developing models of its own.

Daewoo Arcadia. 1993–2000 (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/F, 3206 cm³ (V6 OHC). Daewoo flagship was in fact a rebadged Honda Legend (1990–6), but not as popular as Hyundai rival. Very refined, as Honda originally anticipated an upmarket move with this generation of Legend. Not directly replaced.

Fiat Argenta. 1981–6 (prod. unknown). 4-door saloon. F/R, 1585, 1995 cm³ petrol (4 cyl. DOHC), 2445 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. OHC). Rebodied 132 marketed as all-new car but evidently not. Narrow, 1960s thinking in car that was first released as 132 in the early 1970s. Adequate at best though equipment levels not bad for the era. Facelift for 1984 saw corporate five-bar grille, and addition of supercharged VX and turbodiesel models.

Renault Vel Satis. 2002 to date (prod. unknown). 5-door saloon. F/F, 1998 cm³ petrol, 1995, 2188 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. DOHC), 2958 cm³ diesel, 3498 cm³ petrol (V6 DOHC). Unable to confront BMW 5er-Reihe and German executive saloons, Renault went on an original path with Vel Satis. Show car from late 1990s was sleek and modern; production car upright. High seating position, apeing Espace minivan in some respects. Not as capable as Germans, but sold on unusual design. Poor ride, handling, with automatic gearbox leaving something to be desired. Same platform as Laguna II and Espace IV. Facelift shown April 2005, with no RHD models from then.

I’ve lost yet another post because Vox doesn’t like Firefox. When I tried to edit an image, the editing window became a full Vox page!
   I had been writing about how I was surprised the Renault Koleos was already on sale in New Zealand, meaning that every Korean marque has a vehicle in the compact SUV market now. Daewoo (Winstorm), Hyundai (Tucson), Kia (Sportage) and Samsung (QM5)—though in the Samsung’s case, it was designed by Renault and engineered by Nissan. Think of the Koleos as a Frenchified Nissan X-trail. Prices go from around $37,500 to $43,000—I didn’t take these down.
   The original post was longer but I am tired and I’ve been fighting a weird bug all day.

The last time they made a car called the Chevrolet Cruze, it was a rebodied Suzuki Wagon R:

and, before Holden started selling Daewoo Kaloses, was considered the worst model in its range when it was rebadged with the Aussie lion on the grille.
   This time, it seems Chevrolet Cruze will be the export name for the Daewoo Lacetti replacement in Europe and the US. It doesn’t look very American at all—as usual, it looks Korean, which it is. The good news is that the platform is shared with the next Opel Astra and engineered in Rüsselsheim. The front grille is reminiscent of the Gentra, though the lights are more aggressive. The rear is similar to the Daewoo Tosca:

   Speaking of dodgy Daewoos, I saw, in the metal, the new Holden Barina—Daewoo Gentra X in its country of origin—and the transformation is not very pleasant. The grille does not have a centralized Holden lion badge: it’s placed higher within the grille. Here’s the original Korean model as on Autocade for reference:

 
   I imagine that New Zealand is not going to be far behind Australia, given that the news reports of the facelifted Barina only appeared in the Aussie press earlier this week. Admittedly, I thought I was looking at a Škoda Fabia at first glance, then I had the misfortune of seeing the rest of it. I just hope, for buyers’ sake, this car is safer than the old Kalos.

This Autocade article brought back memories of the World Trade Fair at the Wellington Show Buildings in 1979, which I attended with my mother. Škoda, Hyundai and Volvo showed off their cars at the Fair, which in my opinion was never equalled with subsequent school holidays. I picked up the Hyundai Pony brochure and believe it had this photograph in it.
   What happened to those great, open-to-the-public trade fairs in New Zealand?

Hyundai Pony. 1975–85 (prod. unknown). 3-, 4- and 5-door sedan, 5-door wagon, 2-door pick-up. F/R, 1238, 1439, 1597 cm³ (4 cyl. SOHC). ItalDesign body—Giugiaro also did the original Volkswagen Golf—was smart and crisp for Pony’s 1975 launch, but it hid a structure that essentially followed those of the Morris Marina, mated to Mitsubishi running gear. The brainchild of George Turnbull, formerly of British Leyland, who believed that a simple platform such as the Marina’s was far more adaptable than BL believed. Engines aside, pretty dated technology even when new, but sold on simplicity and cheapness, and took Hyundai into many export markets in the 1970s and early 1980s. Usually takes the credit as the first all-Korean car, despite the foreign input. Pick-up added 1976 after original hatchback, wagon in 1977, three-door in 1980. Replacement Pony II began coming on stream in 1982, after which original range rationalized and replaced by 1985.

What song do you wish would never show up on a karaoke list?

Russell McConnell, stylist extraordinaire and now Korean resident, told me many years ago that people over on the Peninsula would get killed over bad performances of ‘My Way’. So while I can tolerate the song, I think this is one we should omit to save the lives of drunk Koreans.
   Apparently, there has been violence in the Philippines over ‘My Way’ as well, including a shooting. Bear in mind that this blogger does not quote sources.
   Is this song one of those evil ones that unleashes the treacherous spirit of Frank Sinatra’s toupée?

On my main blog, I have talked about the Holden Epica (née Daewoo Tosca). This is probably, uniformly, the worst mid-sized car on the market in New Zealand. I also happen to think it’s the ugliest.
   Last year, Holden began selling the new Barina. What it neglected to tell you was that the new model scored two stars in various safety tests. The model it replaced scored four.
   The new model is actually the Daewoo Kalos, which was withdrawn from the New Zealand market about three years ago for being, well, crap.
   Now, we have the Tosca. The Tosca is actually derived from the old Daewoo Leganza of the mid-1990s. In fact, the platform is older than the Vectra C’s, the car the Tosca replaces in New Zealand.
   The Leganza, too, was not the safest car in its day. The Australian testers, who gave it two and a half stars, noted, ‘The Leganza did not perform well in the offset crash test (0.9pts out of 16). The passenger compartment was substantially deformed. The driver's contact with the airbag was unstable. The passenger hit the dash, with a moderate risk of life threatening head injury. Protection from serious leg injury was poor for the driver.’
   To be fair, the Tosca, or Epica, is a lot safer than the old Leganza. But it doesn’t mean it isn’t junk.
   Many of the driving impressions that Australian journalists have done indicate that this car is the bottom of the heap. If you must buy a Korean-built car, go over to Hyundai or Kia. Both the Hyundai Sonata and the Kia Magentis fared better in at least one test.
   If you are buying a Holden Vectra—a superior car to the Epica—ask the dealer when the car left the factory. I have nothing to base this on other than an educated opinion, but I believe the New Zealand-market 2007 Vectras left the factory some time in 2005. There should be a way for a buyer to check the chassis and production numbers. My belief is no Vectras have left the German factory with the 2003-model grille for some time.
   I have been on Holden’s back about these cars for over a year, because I think Kiwis are getting a raw deal. Meanwhile, Ford, Toyota and Hyundai will be bracing themselves for extra buyers.

Sadly, I had no idea of the horrible shooting at Virginia Tech while I was escorting Laural and Sharaine Barrett around yesterday. In fact, I spent most of the day out or at meetings. I learned about it probably 18 hours after most other people. By today, its impact was felt strongly, particularly at Facebook, where netizens changed their profile photographs to a VT black ribbon.
   I join the millions who are sending prayers and thoughts to the victims, and the families of the victims.
   I am no expert of what happens inside the minds of people such as the alleged shooter, Cho Seung-Hui. The BBC paints a picture of a loner who has aways felt distant, even as a child. The media coverage has tended to discuss gun control, before finding parties to blame, with the Virginia campus being a target.
   If I am to add anything to this debate, I believe we need to go past the same scapegoats. After Columbine, we have already asked these questions and these school shootings continue. In a country like New Zealand, where we are not immune from rampages, we do find armed students a foreign idea associated most strongly with the United States. Le Monde says the massacre taints the American Dream. At the same time, I look at Switzerland which has (unofficially) one firearm for every man, woman and child, yet no one seems to go on rampages there—and this begs the question: why?
   Men like Cho seem to be loners, and in this case, the paranoia that grips post-9-11 USA alerted Virginia Tech staff to his odd behaviour. Despite this, the murders of 30-plus people still could not be prevented. Teachers and counsellors were on alert. There is nothing that could have been done because it seems as though the faculty was diligent, delayed emails and text messages aside.
   My guess is that the issues predate any faculty involvement into Cho’s conduct. I do not know about the Korean community in Virginia. If the Korean community is well integrated, we still hear that Cho’s peers left him alone. Perhaps this is the lesson: to not let our peers be. To be concerned with someone other than ourselves. To end a selfish, me-first society.
   Some teenagers go and get boob jobs for self-image reasons. But negative self-image comes from a society that chooses to shun, forcing some to say, ‘Look at me.’ That same society did not reach out to Cho Seung-Hui. They, we, effectively let Cho stir in his own hatred.
   There is much negativity in the modern United States, and that must seep in to people’s consciousness. I wonder if Cho was sickened by the gulf between his traditional Korean upbringing and what he witnessed among his peers. His family were decent, Christian, and churchgoing. If the United States is about values and honour, would Cho have been sickened by the hypocrisy that he saw through his filter? I often have discussions with Asians—Japanese, Pakistanis, or my own race—and this comes up. We identify sexual promiscuity among westerners as one thing that seems out of place with the stated values of our adopted nations, for example.
   Is it the breakdown of societal values, or his perception thereof, that broke Cho on that horrid, dark day?
   Ironically, through that darkness, there was light. Students and professors who shielded others from the bullets. Those acts of heroism were restatements of American values. It is an indescribable sacrifice, how some gave their lives to show that.
   Why it takes the loss of lives to show us the selflessness of some great Americans, young and old, is sorrowful. But let us not let their passings be in vain. 
   I still hear the huge bollocks here in New Zealand about ‘Asians keep to themselves’ or ‘They don’t like getting involved in public life.’ If the US is anything like that, then the US is dead wrong. I have not sensed this sort of prejudice on my Stateside visits, but I have only been to 10 or 11 states. Cho may have cried out in his own way for help but that was mistaken as a preference to be alone. Others may be crying out right now, and it is our job to help them.
   One school shooting this year is enough to last us through the rest of our lifetimes.