A collectible Kia? Believe it or not. Chances are you've never come across a Kia Vigato before, yet here's one that recently appeared on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, belongs to Hearst Autos). Lotus enthusiasts in the crowd might experience a strong sense of familiarity, given this car's wedge-shaped styling and spirited drivetrain.
That's because it's essentially a Lotus Elan M100. Debuting in 1989, right around the same era as the Mazda Miata, the M100 came with a front-wheel-drive configuration that had traditionalists immediately dismissive. Naming it the Elan probably didn't help — the original was a hard act to follow.
When C/D sampled the Elan M100 back in 1991, our conclusion was that the critics ought to step aside. This compact roadster handled with precision that the Lotus name fully deserved, its turbocharged four-cylinder delivered eager performance, and taken as a whole it stacked up convincingly against Mazda's accessible sports car. The catch: it was priced painfully high, coming in at nearly $40,000 in 1991 dollars.
So what was Kia doing in 1991? Mostly operating within its home market in Korea, assembling rebadged Mazdas. The brand did have a presence in North America, though it was exclusively through Ford dealerships in the form of the Festiva and the Aspire.
Then in 1993, Kia opened a few dealerships in Portland, Oregon, and began a careful, measured push into the American market. The strength of the brand's current lineup speaks volumes about how well that approach paid off. Even so, cautious expansion didn't rule out occasional bold moves.
So when Lotus shuttered M100 production in 1995, Kia jumped at the chance to purchase the tooling and resume manufacturing. Sold simply as the Kia Elan, it gave the Korean automaker its one and only sports car — at least so far.
For the Japanese market, where Kia also exported vehicles, the car wore the Vigato nameplate — which describes exactly the car listed here. This particular example was brought into Canada from Japan in November 2022 and had previously changed hands on Bring a Trailer three years prior. The odometer currently shows the equivalent of just 33,000 miles.
A British-designed car powered by an Isuzu engine, assembled in Korea, shipped to Japan, and eventually landing in North America — this machine's backstory reads like something out of an Indiana Jones adventure. Whatever its journey, it's a genuine talking point and an absolute blast to drive.
Late in the M100's production run, Lotus replaced the 1.6-liter turbocharged engine with a 1.8-liter unit offering a touch less output but fewer mechanical complications. In this car's case, power was rated at 155 horsepower from the factory. Drive goes to the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox.
True to Lotus tradition — even for a Korean-built variant — this Vigato extracts maximum enjoyment from its modest output via a control-arm suspension setup and four-wheel disc brakes. The wheels are lightweight Oz Racing five-spokes sporting Lotus-badged center caps.
The cabin gets some character from a wood-rimmed steering wheel and a decidedly 1990s patterned upholstery. The convertible top is manually operated, which keeps things simple and reliable. With warmer weather arriving, it's primed for open-air driving.
This is an attractive little machine that handles well and will have onlookers utterly puzzled about its identity. It would be right at home at a local cars and coffee gathering — and equally entertaining watching the service desk at your nearest Kia dealership try to figure out what they're looking at. A collectible Kia? Absolutely.
The auction closes on April 9.
