- Kia once sold a rebadged Lotus Elan called the Vigato in Japan.
- This 1997 example has just 33,000 miles and a five-speed manual.
- Underneath, it’s effectively a front-wheel-drive British sports car.
Kia’s current lineup has just about every segment covered. Of course, the one segment it’s never fully leaned into is real sports cars. No, we don’t mean a fast sedan or a heated-up crossover with more horsepower than most know what to do with, but something low, light, and with just two seats.
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That said, there was a brief time in the 1990s when it sold what you see here. The Vigato was effectively a rebadged Lotus Elan M100 series, and this low-mileage example is available for sale right now.
At first glance, this car appears to be like any other Elan from that time. It has the right badges and is clearly the right shape. Those badges aren’t original, though. They once read Kia before a previous owner swapped them out for Lotus items. That detail makes more sense when you know the backstory. After Lotus ended production of the Elan, the Korean automaker purchased the M100 tooling and kept the model alive. In its home market, it was sold as the Kia Elan.
In Japan, however, it was called the Vigato, and this was one example sold there and later imported to Canada in 2022. It now shows just 53,000 kilometers, or about 33,000 miles, which is remarkably low for a nearly 30-year-old roadster.
The original Lotus Elan
Finished in white with a black soft top, it rides on 16-inch OZ Racing wheels wrapped in Yokohama tires. There are also pop-up headlights, a small rear spoiler, and a single exhaust outlet. The cabin is gloriously old-school, with black seats, colorful cloth inserts, a Mitsubishi-branded stereo, and an aftermarket wood-rim steering wheel with a MOMO horn button.
Power comes from a naturally aspirated 1.8-liter DOHC four-cylinder making 151 hp (113 kW) paired to a five-speed manual. Unlike most classic roadsters, however, the Vigato sends that power to the front wheels. As a result, it doesn’t quite fit the traditional sports car mold, which may help explain why it never resonated with Lotus’s clientele and fans.
That said, it does still use Lotus’ double-wishbone suspension at all four corners. Put another way, it’s probably the most engaging long-forgotten 1990s Kia to ever exist. As of this writing, the high bid sits at just $7,100. It’ll never win races, but it’ll always turn heads, and it comes with a truly unique story in the process. We bet the Kia and Lotus groups would be happy to have it at any event.
