Korea has joined the race of supercars with the advent of a twin-turbo version of Oullim Motors’ Spirra V6.This supercar has been advertised as “More fun than a Porsche.” Well, this slogan now does not invoke derision, but curiosity amongst the Koreans.
With a top speed above 300km/h, a turbocharged mid-engine layout, carbon-fibre body, seating for two and head-turning looks help Spirra V6 meet all the characteristics of a supercar except for the price. While it could never be called cheap, its starting point of about $100,000 for the base model is way below normal supercar territory!
In recent years, the traditional supercar names like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Mercedes, McLaren and Jaguar have been joined by a whole host of exotic and expensive newcomers like Sweden’s Koenigsegg, Germany’s Gumpert, the fiercesome Bugatti Veyron from France, Italy’s Pagani Zonda and American muscle in the shape of the Saleen S7 and the world’s fastest production car, the SSC Ultimate Aero.
At present, the automotive industry of South Korea stands as the fifth largest in the world. It has come along way since the 1.2-litre Hyundai Pony made its debut in 1975. By the mid-1980s, Korea was starting to make a name for itself as an exporter of cheap, reliable, plain-looking cars.
The two decades from 1990 saw a hectic capacity buildup, sparking fierce domestic competition and the inevitable consolidation and casualties, with Kia taken into the Hyundai fold and Daewoo and Samsung falling under the control of General Motors and Renault respectively.
SsangYong Motors, once owned by Daewoo, is now majority owned by Chinese maker SAIC and Hyundai has the benchmark performer and innovator in the Korean automobile world. The company has made a niche for itself in the world market and is currently the fourth largest car maker of the world.
Oullim Motors sources Hyundai components, including the V6 engine, for its Spirra sports car, though essentially the design is the work of a former SsangYong Motors designer, Kim Han-chul.
This designer with his wife Choi Jisun, a researcher at Hyundai Motor, realised their concept of a high performance mid-engine sports car and presented the concept car PS-II at the 2002 Seoul Motor Show and the full Spirra car appeared at motor shows in Beijing (2004) and Seoul (2005). But by the time the Spirra was ready for production in 2006, the money had run out and the project went into abeyance.
In July 2006, up-and-coming information technology tycoon and auto enthusiast Park Dong-hyuk set up Oullim Motors and in June 2007 took over Proto Motors to revive the Spirra project. The first cars were produced in 2008 and in July this year the Spirra gained Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA) which gives it access to the European market.
The Spirra is aimed to deliver 300 cars worldwide in 2010 and will also resume a three-year contract to deliver 145 vehicles to a Dutch distributor and to supply 100 vehicles to a distributor in Malaysia by 2014.
The emergence of the Spirra poses a question for the automotive world: if South Korea is able to produce a supercar, can China and India be far behind?
As 2010 approaches, it seems a whole lot more likely that the Chinese and Indian concept cars seen at motor shows in Beijing, Shanghai and New Delhi may one day hit the road.
China is the world’s largest car maker and India ranks only 11th this year with 2.28 million, but by 2012 is expected to take fifth spot from Korea with 3.55 million.
In India, acclaimed designer Dilip Chhabria has created several supercar prototypes under the names DC Go, Gaia and Infidel, using a Noble GT chassis.
