2006: Kia Sidewinder
Stratos. Intercepter. Vanquish. Sidewinder. As car names go, this surely ranks up there with the best, and the car itself was promising as well. Produced as part of a design competition at the 2006 LA Motor Show, it was envisaged as a specialist drift racer (yes, really). A hydrogen turbine feeding a series of in-wheel, high torque electric motors would’ve enabled the car to “hold the ultimate slip angle”, building on the then-trend in LA of officially sanctioned drifting events. Another version was also modeled with the iconic Gulf livery. All seem too good to be true? That’s because it was - the Sidewinder never made it past the drawing board. Boo, and indeed, hiss.
Words: James Smalley
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