FINNESEY.ORG

Daewoo Motors has an absurdly long history by Korean standards. It was founded in 1937 as "National Motor." According to a source I read long ago and have forgotten the name of (a book on the Chaebol), this company was actually founded to build submarines for the Imperial Japanese navy. This was almost unheard of in Japanese-occupied Korea, as they tended to only allow Korea to only manufacture things which could never really be a threat. (Consumer goods and the like). Not military and heavy industrial hardware.

Regardless Daewoo proper was founded in the 60s by a guy who had been selling newspapers. Within a decade, it was one of the largest companies in Korea. Somewhere along the way, it acquired National Motor and got into the car business.

"National Motor" was by 1972 called "Shinhan Motors" and entered into a joint venture with GM to make cars for the Korean market. In 1982, Daewoo took control of the company, but GM retained 50 percent ownership. (Which they increased to 66.6 percent, in cooperation with Suzuki and Chinese company SAIC, in October 2002, and took control of the company.)

Daewoo Truck?

There is a newer version of this truck with a 420PS Cummins engine in it. At least, it says that on the side. And we know how much that means in Korea.

Daewoo Brougham

This was Daewoo's answer to the Potentia and Dynasty. It was succeeded in 2005 by the Daewoo Statesman.

Now, this page says the Brougham is front-wheel drive. But unless I'm confusing it with another car, I think I saw a rear differential on one of these.

Still, from that link, we get that the Brougham has a 2.2 liter, 145 horsepower engine. And that is in a BIG car. Oh well, this is Korea we're talking about. It's not like there's enough space for all 145 horses to come out and play.

According to information gleaned from these invaluable sources of information:

Malaysia Motor Trader
Motorbase - Opel Monza
Wikipedia - Opel Monza

The Brougham was based on the Opel Monza/Senator, which dates from around the same time as the US Chevy Monza but is not, apparantly, related to it. It IS however, related to the Holden Commodore, which also evolved from the same platform.

The Daewoo Brougham is a comparatively rare car, and is not listed on Yahoo Korea's automotive ads. I believe it to be a trim level of the Daewoo Prince, which was also RWD, and which also shares components with the Holden Commodore.

Daewoo Bus

Daewoo, like all major Korean car makers, makes busses. In my experience, Daewoo busses are very comfortable on the highway, and they have remarkable stability in corners. Very little roll, and a lot of "hold on, or you're going to go sideways" action.

The interior quality is, to put it mildly, lacking. Don't get me wrong, they're comfortable, and they look nice...or I suspect they look nice when they're new. They just fall apart. This is a problem a lot of Korean vehicles have had for a good long while.

Daewoo Cielo

Also known as the Daewoo Nexia, and the Opel Kadett E. It is the evolution of the Daewoo Lemans/Racer. This was never sold in the US, but was sold in other places outside Korea. The Cielo was FWD, and had a 1.5 liter engine. All Cielos had automatic transmissions. It was sold from 1994 to 1996.

Daewoo Damas

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about quality here. But Daewoo is essentially the Daihatsu of Korea.

They don't have the reputation for quality in Korea that Daihatsu have in Japan, but they do both dominate the same market space...the ultra-small category.

The Damas is ubiquitous in Korea. You'll see them in every market, on every city street sooner or later. They get the job done and can move about in the tight confines of Korean traffic.

The beating these things take is obvious. It's rare to see one without battle scars. (Pictures of that follow...it's obviously new) This one is at Dongdaemun Shijang in Seoul, with some of the most chaotic, bustling traffic you'll ever see. No wonder it's beat to hell.

The Daewoo Damas is based on the Suzuki Damas (a Kei car sold in Japan). Or it might be the other way around. But seeing as how it was designed to meet Kei requirements, I am inclined to believe that it was a Suzuki first.

Here's a new, restyled Damas Libig

Daewoo Espero

When I first saw one of these, I thought "early 90s GM." I thought "Beretta." I thought "Hey, that kinda looks like the Pontiac/Daewoo Lemans" and I immediately suspected that it evolved from it.

Well, I was kinda right. I just didn't realize what the relation between the Opel models and the Chevy models was.

Can you guess what car the Espero is based upon?

I'll give you a hint. It is among the most notoriously bad, and yet inexplicably long-lived (because it uniformly looked far better than the Espero, I think) cars in recent US automotive history.

It's a fucking Cavalier. It's a rebodied Cavalier. They would have been better off leaving as it was...or leaving it altogether, actually.

Now, this was sold concurrently with the Cielo. (But much, much uglier) I suspect from this, and the fact that it just LOOKs kind of bloated that this is a lengthened version of the Cavalier, and is not strictly badge-engineered.

The Espero was sold from 1993 to 1996. Now think how many 1993 Cavaliers you still see on the road. That's probably why you really only see these things on base (where all these pics were taken).

Daewoo D50S

Daewoo makes forklifts. The forklift was the deadliest weapon in the game "Escape Velocity."

Daewoo Istana

Daewoo did some badge-engineering with Ssangyong. (They sold the Korando, for a while, actually) The Ssangyong Istana is a relatively uncommon van in Korea, but the Daewoo Istana is downright rare.

One thing about Korean vans...until very recently, they didn't really do "minivans" they had full-size vans like this and the Bongo and the like, and they had micro-vans like the Damas. There's little pretense about needing gobs of space to get the family from point a to point b, perhaps because only rarely are point a and point b more than 30 minutes apart (barring traffic). Also Korean kids are really tiny.

Daewoo Kalos

The Daewoo Kalos, AKA the Chevy Aveo. It went on sale in 2002, and continues today (2006). It has 1.2 and 1.5 liter engines available, and the overwhelming majority of models sold are automatic transmission (but a manual is available). It starts around 8 grand new.

If I take my glasses off, it looks a lot like the Daewoo Matiz. But it's bigger. One of the smallest, cheapest cars available in the US, it's not even close to the bottom in Korea. Don't worry, we'll get them eventually. (I just hope it's not limited to the Matiz. You know Japan has some tiny cars, too...)

Daewoo Labo

The Daewoo Labo is clearly a close relation to the Daewoo Damas. And it's just as common. And I'll tell you why. Besides it's obvious practicality, and the fact that it is perfectly suited to Korean cities...the base price is under 5,000 dollars, brand fucking new.

Honestly, that's enough to make ME want one, and I don't even like pickups.

The Labo (and the Damas) comes with a .8 liter LPG engine. So if you had any thoughts of importing one, you might want to make sure you can fuel it. (Some LPG engines will run gasoline, so you might not be out of luck)

Epidemic control. Tee hee. Reminds me of "Penn and Teller Get Killed."

Daewoo Lacetti

The Daewoo Lacetti is sold in the US as the Suzuki Forenza.

Daewoo doesn't exactly have a good reputation...well, anywhere. So they're using badges that have decent reputations, but not so good that what Daewoo sells wouldn't be believable, and selling them abroad as Suzukis and Chevys.

Daewoo has long been making copies of Suzuki models (see the Tico)...but honestly, Suzuki has always been a price leader, do they really need Daewoo's help? Well, every little bit helps, I guess.

But the fact is, people KNOW that the Forenza and Verona are Daewoos. Is Daewoo's reputation just going to drag Suzuki down? Or are GM and Suzuki making certain that the quality is good enough to speak for itself? According to Daewoo's Korean page it's also sold as the Chevy Optra in some markets, the Buick Excelle in China, and the Holden Viva in Australia. Damn, GM has a lot riding on this thing.

Well, it's an inoffensive looking car, at any rate. The Suzuki trim looks better, however. It is a good example of what Top Gear's Richard Hammond is talking about when he says "Korean cars are made like white goods."

Now at first, I thought this was a Lanos...but no, they looked like the ones pictured in the next entry right to the end.

At least it's an appropriate badge, being that this a GM Daewoo product. Anyhow, you can tell it's not an original badge because the spot where it's placed is still shaped for a Daewoo logo.

This thing looks pretty good in black if you ask me. Daewoo or not. This hatch is sold as the Suzuki Reno.

Daewoo Lanos

1996-2002. 1.3 and 1.5 liter engines were available. Around 1999, the mix of models sold shifted from even moreso away from manual to an even larger proportion of automatics. The Lanos was one of Daewoo's first two independent designs. (All prior models had been based upon Hondas, Toyotas, Suzukis, or GMs) The other was the Nubira.

This is the "Lanos Juliet." I don't know if there was a "Lanos Romeo."

Once I was talking on a message board or newsgroup or something with some SUVphile asshole (he was both, and while the two very often go together, I am well aware that they are not 100 percent indicative of one another. Shut up.). The Lanos is the strawman he used when someone bitched about his utterly useless choice of vehicle (I don't recall what, and H2 or something like that), something to the effect of "Oh, so I should drive a Daewoo Lanos...well I don't like cars that look like suppositories.)

The Lanos does not look like a suppository. And no one brought it up but him. God damn I hate his kind. (Probably watches Bill O'Reilly.)

Daewoo Le Mans

If there has ever been one vehicle more inappropriately named than any other in the history of mankind, this is it.

I don't think you could even get away with driving this thing to go watch a Le Mans series race.

If this looks familiar (look past the clever disguise on the front) it's because it did see US streets as the Pontiac Le Mans.

The Daewoo Lemans, and its two children, the Espero and the Cielo.

Here you can see a later Lemans, in sedan form, as it approached the form that would eventually diverge into the radically different Espero (a step back towards it's styling as a hatch) and to the Cielo (a vaguely Honda-esque body style).

I'm not a fan of that Caprice-style rear wheel arch.

It's shiny.

Daewoo Magnus

Known in the US as the Suzuki Verona. The Daewoo Magnus is mostly seen as a taxi in Korea, but apart from AAFES, it isn't as popular as the Hyundai Sonata in that role. You do see private Magnuses as well.

It's a comfortable enough car, but the interior pretty much exemplifies the cheap feeling of Korean cars. But then, I think it's kind of ruggedized for taxi duty (with really thick vinyl seats)...the personal models could be better in comfort...and better or worse? in durability.

Basically, interior quality in many Korean cars, and this is one of the examples, is just a veneer. It looks great, it looks tough, but it's only skin-deep.

Daewoo Matiz

And here's a car where we just don't care. Worldwide, this might be Daewoo's most well-known model, and the one most associated with their name. It is the perfect car for Korea.

Take a look at this picture.

And take a look at this one.
See that shadow in front of the car? That's the first car. That's how common the Matiz is, and how common this color of Matiz is.

The car in front had this on it. Umm....no.

He obviously exited out the passenger side.

They see heavy use as delivery vehicles, both on base, and in town.

Continuously Variable Transmission....that means you're not supposed to feel it shift, retards. Also...smoked taillights?

They sell them in Japan. Just minus the Daewoo name. Matiz is actually the brand name under which they sell both...the Matiz, and the Rexton. It doesn't qualify as a Kei car, however, as it retains it's 800cc engine.

The Matiz is 3.4 meters long. 1.5 meters wide. 1.5 meters tall. It weighs (auto) 870 kg. It has about 52 horsepower. It is widely believed to be an evolution of the Daewoo Tico, which was based upon the 1983 Suzuki Alto (although with a larger engine).

That's less than a 1984 Toyota Corolla or Tercel. So this thing isn't going to be shattering any speed records.

But it can be driven just fine on the highway. Here is a Matiz Super. I don't know what's so super about it.

Daewoo Nubira

1996-2001. The name is dead, but the Daewoo Nubira is still with us. And with US, even.

It lives on as the Lacetti, which is also sold as the Suzuki Forenza.

The Nubira had an available manual transmission, but most buyers opted for the auto. It had a 1.5 liter engine, and LPG versions were available.

Daewoo Prince

1993 to 1997. 1.8 liter LPG and 1.8 and 2.0 liter gasoline engines were available, and there was an available manual transmission.

Ever since the demise of the Hyundai Pony, Korea has had a love affair with Wrong Wheel Drive (that is, Front Wheel Drive). The Prince is one of the rare exceptions.

A relation of the Holden Commodore, which is basically Australia's answer to the Caprice Classic, the Prince is a pretty big car, and it drives the proper wheels.

Someone actually took one of these and turned it into a rock crawler. Ah, found it.

He did it alone. Other snippets gleaned from the article, though I don't know 4x4s, so I don't know what it all means: "Swing axle is naturally an independent mono swing arm." "...It uses coilover suspension like a passenger car" "It has a 5 speed manual transmission connected to a 4 speed auto. " "The shaft for the steering is connected at a 45 degree angle...this wasn't easy to do" "It uses driveshafts from a (Asia) Rocksta" "it has an overall gear ratio of 143 to 1, giving it plenty of torque"

I could be messing that up. Anyhow, the Prince is one of Korea's (and Daewoo's) few really respectable cars.

Daewoo Racer

The Racer was a version of the Le Mans

I really don't think you'd do much serious racing with this. It is probably about as related to a Cavalier as a CRX (which is somewhat resembles) is to a Civic. Which is to say way too much. STi...heh. That kind of reminds me of the Subaru STI appearance package some Kia dealers in Australia were offering for ...the Rio, I think it was. Painted the same color, with a body kit and spoiler to look reminiscent of a Subaru STI. Yes, that really happened and I'm not making it up.

Daewoo Rezzo

Daewoo's entry into the popular people-moving tubby-wagon on a compact car body category, dominated by the Kia Carens. (This is the same segment occupied by the Toyota Matrix)

It's not really as popular as Hyundai or Kia's offerings, but it's a common enough sight. The Rezzo was made from 2000 and continues to the present.

2 liter LPG and gasoline engines are available.

Daewoo shovel

They make forklifts and they make these. It's really remarkable how many heavy equipment manufacturers there are in Korea...all of the major automakers, AND some other non-automotive companies...when at the same time you still see Caterpillar and Volvo and Mitsubishi and Komatsu all over the place. (Especially Volvo, though.)

Daewoo Tico

Ah, the Daewoo Tico. What would have been the start of Daewoo's success story if it weren't also a story of defeat.

Does the shape look familiar? It should.

The Tico is based on the 1983 Alto. Looking in the Suzuki page, you should see a later model Alto, and the resemblence is still strong.

Koreans will stick all kinds of things on their cars. Despite whatever motivated the owner of this car to do this, this really isn't a step up. Honestly, the Tico is far cooler than a Sephia will ever be.

Though based on a Kei car, the Tico would not in fact qualify as one itself, due to it having a .8 liter engine.

The Tico is one of the most common cars in Korea, due to low price, low fuel consumption, and it's small size enabling it to maneuver the crowded streets prevalent in Korean cities (this isn't one of them, obviously.

The Tico was made from 1988 to 1998. This white one is an early model.

Carsurvey.org has little bad to say about it. But those are mostly Uzbek manufactured models. (The Tico is still being made in Uzbekistan, just not in Korea.)

If I ever come back to Korea, and if I get a car, it may well be one of these. It looks so much nicer than the Matiz.

Damn that's a neat little car.

Daewoo Tosca

Every bit as underwhelming as the new Kias and Hyundais are impressive.

I've ridden in a couple of them (they're the new AAFES cabs), and they suck. One of them couldn't have been more than two months old and already the door handles were coming apart. The interior is just cheap and crappy.

Don't get me wrong. It LOOKS good. The interior LOOKS good. GM has a habit of doing that. Making attractive, well-laid out interiors where the beauty is only skin-deep. And that skin here isn't very thick. Where in a Toyota or Honda or Hyundai you might get padded surfaces with plastic coverings a couple millimeters thick, in a Daewoo they're barely thicker than a trash bag. They'll rip where another would just scratch.

Sure, the car might keep running, but where with several years normal use a competitor's product might look a little worn, it's going to look like your sled dog team was living in the Daewoo.

On to the Twin Dragons.


	GM DAEWOO

	Daewoo Motors has an absurdly long history by Korean standards. It was founded in 1937 as "National Motor." According to a source I read long ago and have forgotten the name of (a book on the Chaebol), this company was actually founded to build submarines for the Imperial Japanese navy. This was almost unheard of in Japanese-occupied Korea, as they tended to only allow Korea to only manufacture things which could never really be a threat. (Consumer goods and the like). Not military and heavy industrial hardware. Regardless Daewoo proper was founded in the 60s by a guy who had been selling newspapers. Within a decade, it was one of the largest companies in Korea. Somewhere along the way, it acquired National Motor and got into the car business. "National Motor" was by 1972 called "Shinhan Motors" and entered into a joint venture with GM to make cars for the Korean market. In 1982, Daewoo took control of the company, but GM retained 50 percent ownership. (Which they increased to 66.6 percent, in cooperation with Suzuki and Chinese company SAIC, in October 2002, and took control of the company.) Daewoo Truck? There is a newer version of this truck with a 420PS Cummins engine in it. At least, it says that on the side. And we know how much that means in Korea. Daewoo Brougham This was Daewoo's answer to the Potentia and Dynasty. It was succeeded in 2005 by the Daewoo Statesman. Now, this page says the Brougham is front-wheel drive. But unless I'm confusing it with another car, I think I saw a rear differential on one of these. Still, from that link, we get that the Brougham has a 2.2 liter, 145 horsepower engine. And that is in a BIG car. Oh well, this is Korea we're talking about. It's not like there's enough space for all 145 horses to come out and play. According to information gleaned from these invaluable sources of information: Malaysia Motor Trader Motorbase - Opel Monza Wikipedia - Opel Monza The Brougham was based on the Opel Monza/Senator, which dates from around the same time as the US Chevy Monza but is not, apparantly, related to it. It IS however, related to the Holden Commodore, which also evolved from the same platform. The Daewoo Brougham is a comparatively rare car, and is not listed on Yahoo Korea's automotive ads. I believe it to be a trim level of the Daewoo Prince, which was also RWD, and which also shares components with the Holden Commodore. Daewoo Bus Daewoo, like all major Korean car makers, makes busses. In my experience, Daewoo busses are very comfortable on the highway, and they have remarkable stability in corners. Very little roll, and a lot of "hold on, or you're going to go sideways" action. The interior quality is, to put it mildly, lacking. Don't get me wrong, they're comfortable, and they look nice...or I suspect they look nice when they're new. They just fall apart. This is a problem a lot of Korean vehicles have had for a good long while. Daewoo Cielo Also known as the Daewoo Nexia, and the Opel Kadett E. It is the evolution of the Daewoo Lemans/Racer. This was never sold in the US, but was sold in other places outside Korea. The Cielo was FWD, and had a 1.5 liter engine. All Cielos had automatic transmissions. It was sold from 1994 to 1996. Daewoo Damas Now don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about quality here. But Daewoo is essentially the Daihatsu of Korea. They don't have the reputation for quality in Korea that Daihatsu have in Japan, but they do both dominate the same market space...the ultra-small category. The Damas is ubiquitous in Korea. You'll see them in every market, on every city street sooner or later. They get the job done and can move about in the tight confines of Korean traffic. The beating these things take is obvious. It's rare to see one without battle scars. (Pictures of that follow...it's obviously new) This one is at Dongdaemun Shijang in Seoul, with some of the most chaotic, bustling traffic you'll ever see. No wonder it's beat to hell. The Daewoo Damas is based on the Suzuki Damas (a Kei car sold in Japan). Or it might be the other way around. But seeing as how it was designed to meet Kei requirements, I am inclined to believe that it was a Suzuki first. Here's a new, restyled Damas Libig Daewoo Espero When I first saw one of these, I thought "early 90s GM." I thought "Beretta." I thought "Hey, that kinda looks like the Pontiac/Daewoo Lemans" and I immediately suspected that it evolved from it. Well, I was kinda right. I just didn't realize what the relation between the Opel models and the Chevy models was. Can you guess what car the Espero is based upon? I'll give you a hint. It is among the most notoriously bad, and yet inexplicably long-lived (because it uniformly looked far better than the Espero, I think) cars in recent US automotive history. It's a fucking Cavalier. It's a rebodied Cavalier. They would have been better off leaving as it was...or leaving it altogether, actually. Now, this was sold concurrently with the Cielo. (But much, much uglier) I suspect from this, and the fact that it just LOOKs kind of bloated that this is a lengthened version of the Cavalier, and is not strictly badge-engineered. The Espero was sold from 1993 to 1996. Now think how many 1993 Cavaliers you still see on the road. That's probably why you really only see these things on base (where all these pics were taken). Daewoo D50S Daewoo makes forklifts. The forklift was the deadliest weapon in the game "Escape Velocity." Daewoo Istana Daewoo did some badge-engineering with Ssangyong. (They sold the Korando, for a while, actually) The Ssangyong Istana is a relatively uncommon van in Korea, but the Daewoo Istana is downright rare. One thing about Korean vans...until very recently, they didn't really do "minivans" they had full-size vans like this and the Bongo and the like, and they had micro-vans like the Damas. There's little pretense about needing gobs of space to get the family from point a to point b, perhaps because only rarely are point a and point b more than 30 minutes apart (barring traffic). Also Korean kids are really tiny. Daewoo Kalos The Daewoo Kalos, AKA the Chevy Aveo. It went on sale in 2002, and continues today (2006). It has 1.2 and 1.5 liter engines available, and the overwhelming majority of models sold are automatic transmission (but a manual is available). It starts around 8 grand new. If I take my glasses off, it looks a lot like the Daewoo Matiz. But it's bigger. One of the smallest, cheapest cars available in the US, it's not even close to the bottom in Korea. Don't worry, we'll get them eventually. (I just hope it's not limited to the Matiz. You know Japan has some tiny cars, too...) Daewoo Labo The Daewoo Labo is clearly a close relation to the Daewoo Damas. And it's just as common. And I'll tell you why. Besides it's obvious practicality, and the fact that it is perfectly suited to Korean cities...the base price is under 5,000 dollars, brand fucking new. Honestly, that's enough to make ME want one, and I don't even like pickups. The Labo (and the Damas) comes with a .8 liter LPG engine. So if you had any thoughts of importing one, you might want to make sure you can fuel it. (Some LPG engines will run gasoline, so you might not be out of luck) Epidemic control. Tee hee. Reminds me of "Penn and Teller Get Killed." Daewoo Lacetti The Daewoo Lacetti is sold in the US as the Suzuki Forenza. Daewoo doesn't exactly have a good reputation...well, anywhere. So they're using badges that have decent reputations, but not so good that what Daewoo sells wouldn't be believable, and selling them abroad as Suzukis and Chevys. Daewoo has long been making copies of Suzuki models (see the Tico)...but honestly, Suzuki has always been a price leader, do they really need Daewoo's help? Well, every little bit helps, I guess. But the fact is, people KNOW that the Forenza and Verona are Daewoos. Is Daewoo's reputation just going to drag Suzuki down? Or are GM and Suzuki making certain that the quality is good enough to speak for itself? According to Daewoo's Korean page it's also sold as the Chevy Optra in some markets, the Buick Excelle in China, and the Holden Viva in Australia. Damn, GM has a lot riding on this thing. Well, it's an inoffensive looking car, at any rate. The Suzuki trim looks better, however. It is a good example of what Top Gear's Richard Hammond is talking about when he says "Korean cars are made like white goods." Now at first, I thought this was a Lanos...but no, they looked like the ones pictured in the next entry right to the end. At least it's an appropriate badge, being that this a GM Daewoo product. Anyhow, you can tell it's not an original badge because the spot where it's placed is still shaped for a Daewoo logo. This thing looks pretty good in black if you ask me. Daewoo or not. This hatch is sold as the Suzuki Reno. Daewoo Lanos 1996-2002. 1.3 and 1.5 liter engines were available. Around 1999, the mix of models sold shifted from even moreso away from manual to an even larger proportion of automatics. The Lanos was one of Daewoo's first two independent designs. (All prior models had been based upon Hondas, Toyotas, Suzukis, or GMs) The other was the Nubira. This is the "Lanos Juliet." I don't know if there was a "Lanos Romeo." Once I was talking on a message board or newsgroup or something with some SUVphile asshole (he was both, and while the two very often go together, I am well aware that they are not 100 percent indicative of one another. Shut up.). The Lanos is the strawman he used when someone bitched about his utterly useless choice of vehicle (I don't recall what, and H2 or something like that), something to the effect of "Oh, so I should drive a Daewoo Lanos...well I don't like cars that look like suppositories.) The Lanos does not look like a suppository. And no one brought it up but him. God damn I hate his kind. (Probably watches Bill O'Reilly.) Daewoo Le Mans If there has ever been one vehicle more inappropriately named than any other in the history of mankind, this is it. I don't think you could even get away with driving this thing to go watch a Le Mans series race. If this looks familiar (look past the clever disguise on the front) it's because it did see US streets as the Pontiac Le Mans. The Daewoo Lemans, and its two children, the Espero and the Cielo. Here you can see a later Lemans, in sedan form, as it approached the form that would eventually diverge into the radically different Espero (a step back towards it's styling as a hatch) and to the Cielo (a vaguely Honda-esque body style). I'm not a fan of that Caprice-style rear wheel arch. It's shiny. Daewoo Magnus Known in the US as the Suzuki Verona. The Daewoo Magnus is mostly seen as a taxi in Korea, but apart from AAFES, it isn't as popular as the Hyundai Sonata in that role. You do see private Magnuses as well. It's a comfortable enough car, but the interior pretty much exemplifies the cheap feeling of Korean cars. But then, I think it's kind of ruggedized for taxi duty (with really thick vinyl seats)...the personal models could be better in comfort...and better or worse? in durability. Basically, interior quality in many Korean cars, and this is one of the examples, is just a veneer. It looks great, it looks tough, but it's only skin-deep. Daewoo Matiz And here's a car where we just don't care. Worldwide, this might be Daewoo's most well-known model, and the one most associated with their name. It is the perfect car for Korea. Take a look at this picture. And take a look at this one. See that shadow in front of the car? That's the first car. That's how common the Matiz is, and how common this color of Matiz is. The car in front had this on it. Umm....no. He obviously exited out the passenger side. They see heavy use as delivery vehicles, both on base, and in town. Continuously Variable Transmission....that means you're not supposed to feel it shift, retards. Also...smoked taillights? They sell them in Japan. Just minus the Daewoo name. Matiz is actually the brand name under which they sell both...the Matiz, and the Rexton. It doesn't qualify as a Kei car, however, as it retains it's 800cc engine. The Matiz is 3.4 meters long. 1.5 meters wide. 1.5 meters tall. It weighs (auto) 870 kg. It has about 52 horsepower. It is widely believed to be an evolution of the Daewoo Tico, which was based upon the 1983 Suzuki Alto (although with a larger engine). That's less than a 1984 Toyota Corolla or Tercel. So this thing isn't going to be shattering any speed records. But it can be driven just fine on the highway. Here is a Matiz Super. I don't know what's so super about it. Daewoo Nubira 1996-2001. The name is dead, but the Daewoo Nubira is still with us. And with US, even. It lives on as the Lacetti, which is also sold as the Suzuki Forenza. The Nubira had an available manual transmission, but most buyers opted for the auto. It had a 1.5 liter engine, and LPG versions were available. Daewoo Prince 1993 to 1997. 1.8 liter LPG and 1.8 and 2.0 liter gasoline engines were available, and there was an available manual transmission. Ever since the demise of the Hyundai Pony, Korea has had a love affair with Wrong Wheel Drive (that is, Front Wheel Drive). The Prince is one of the rare exceptions. A relation of the Holden Commodore, which is basically Australia's answer to the Caprice Classic, the Prince is a pretty big car, and it drives the proper wheels. Someone actually took one of these and turned it into a rock crawler. Ah, found it. He did it alone. Other snippets gleaned from the article, though I don't know 4x4s, so I don't know what it all means: "Swing axle is naturally an independent mono swing arm." "...It uses coilover suspension like a passenger car" "It has a 5 speed manual transmission connected to a 4 speed auto. " "The shaft for the steering is connected at a 45 degree angle...this wasn't easy to do" "It uses driveshafts from a (Asia) Rocksta" "it has an overall gear ratio of 143 to 1, giving it plenty of torque" I could be messing that up. Anyhow, the Prince is one of Korea's (and Daewoo's) few really respectable cars. Daewoo Racer The Racer was a version of the Le Mans I really don't think you'd do much serious racing with this. It is probably about as related to a Cavalier as a CRX (which is somewhat resembles) is to a Civic. Which is to say way too much. STi...heh. That kind of reminds me of the Subaru STI appearance package some Kia dealers in Australia were offering for ...the Rio, I think it was. Painted the same color, with a body kit and spoiler to look reminiscent of a Subaru STI. Yes, that really happened and I'm not making it up. Daewoo Rezzo Daewoo's entry into the popular people-moving tubby-wagon on a compact car body category, dominated by the Kia Carens. (This is the same segment occupied by the Toyota Matrix) It's not really as popular as Hyundai or Kia's offerings, but it's a common enough sight. The Rezzo was made from 2000 and continues to the present. 2 liter LPG and gasoline engines are available. Daewoo shovel They make forklifts and they make these. It's really remarkable how many heavy equipment manufacturers there are in Korea...all of the major automakers, AND some other non-automotive companies...when at the same time you still see Caterpillar and Volvo and Mitsubishi and Komatsu all over the place. (Especially Volvo, though.) Daewoo Tico Ah, the Daewoo Tico. What would have been the start of Daewoo's success story if it weren't also a story of defeat. Does the shape look familiar? It should. The Tico is based on the 1983 Alto. Looking in the Suzuki page, you should see a later model Alto, and the resemblence is still strong. Koreans will stick all kinds of things on their cars. Despite whatever motivated the owner of this car to do this, this really isn't a step up. Honestly, the Tico is far cooler than a Sephia will ever be. Though based on a Kei car, the Tico would not in fact qualify as one itself, due to it having a .8 liter engine. The Tico is one of the most common cars in Korea, due to low price, low fuel consumption, and it's small size enabling it to maneuver the crowded streets prevalent in Korean cities (this isn't one of them, obviously. The Tico was made from 1988 to 1998. This white one is an early model. Carsurvey.org has little bad to say about it. But those are mostly Uzbek manufactured models. (The Tico is still being made in Uzbekistan, just not in Korea.) If I ever come back to Korea, and if I get a car, it may well be one of these. It looks so much nicer than the Matiz. Damn that's a neat little car. Daewoo Tosca Every bit as underwhelming as the new Kias and Hyundais are impressive. I've ridden in a couple of them (they're the new AAFES cabs), and they suck. One of them couldn't have been more than two months old and already the door handles were coming apart. The interior is just cheap and crappy. Don't get me wrong. It LOOKS good. The interior LOOKS good. GM has a habit of doing that. Making attractive, well-laid out interiors where the beauty is only skin-deep. And that skin here isn't very thick. Where in a Toyota or Honda or Hyundai you might get padded surfaces with plastic coverings a couple millimeters thick, in a Daewoo they're barely thicker than a trash bag. They'll rip where another would just scratch. Sure, the car might keep running, but where with several years normal use a competitor's product might look a little worn, it's going to look like your sled dog team was living in the Daewoo. On to the Twin Dragons.

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