I love the Kia Opirus. It’s a car so ungainly looking, it pretty much makes the googly-eyed mid-’90s Ford Scorpio look like a beauty queen. It’s an unquestionable rip-off of the Mercedes-Benz W210 E-class, combined with bits and bobs of the Jaguar S-Type – neither of which are particularly good-looking cars unless you’re an unquestioning follower of either brand. The one other Korean luxury car of the same era that made it to Europe, the Hyundai XG, positively looks like a well-judged Mitsubishi Debonair development in comparison. The Opirus, in contrast, is just bloated and blobby.
Naturally, I want one. This 2007 car was shot in Eindhoven, some way inland from Amsterdam.
And yet, in dark bluey green, the car almost pulls it off. It looks restrained and tasteful, yet completely anonymous in parts. The LED DRL:s aren’t too well-suited to the car, though. Neither are the generic wheels.
The Opirus is one of the few cars that don’t necessarily display the manufacturer’s logo on the front grille. I’ve seen numerous grille treatments on various Opiruses, and this is one of the more modest ones. They all look pretty terrible.
You need to walk all the way to the back to identify the car. The Opirus was also sold as the Amanti, which is too close to Mazda’s stillborn Amati brand for comfort. The Opirus was sold here with the 3.5-litre Sigma V6 producing a touch over 200hp, or the 3.8-litre Lambda II V6 that this exact car has, with 260hp.
And when you take a step back, you realize they were aiming at the Lincoln Town car all along. That roofline, together with the rear plate chrome surround, is legit Lincoln stuff. What a car!
[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]
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