I remember in 2004 a neighbor down the street(a pastor) had got this new and immediately running to it to see wtf it was because I knew it wasn’t a Jaguar😂
@@RetroCarReviews It's like the Kia designers were trying to describe a W210 E-Class to the engineers in South Korea over a static-filled phone call while high on Xanax 😂
These were gorgeous cars. I remember my family rented a silver Amanti circa 2004-05, we absolutely loved it. Long haul plush leather seats. They sure don't make them like this anymore.
They're still one of the better cars for the money and they give far more and its far cheaper than the rest and quality is also good with these yrs of kia vehicles they're not bad for the money...
So this is what a Jaguar S-type mated with a w210 Mercedes E-class looks like 🤔 Still a nice car for the value, though. I consider this and the Hyundai XG350 the forebears to the Genesis brand (despite their FWD architecture).
I have the second gen 2009 version of this car. Mine's black on black people today in 2023 confuse it for a Bentley or Mercedes-Benz even during the day LOL. It's got the 2003 E-class front end and the 2006 or so Bentley Continental rear end or even the Lincoln Town Car. The thing I like about my 2009 as they did do a refresh but the biggest thing they did was take the 3.8 L out of the Genesis which is close to 300 horsepower and they threw it in the last year they made this. Sounds like a G35 and I can keep up with the newer cars if not beat them with a twelve-year-old 2009. I have almost 200k on mine and everything works and everybody is correct they didn't make a lot of these and they are extremely hard to find in good condition I've only seen three since I've owned one.
My '99 Acura RL 3.5 had 200 HP. Though a bit more torque and probably a lot smoother. I think Acura boosted it to either 215 or 230 a year or so later.
I worked at a Kia dealer back then in the parts Dept. I remember a guy with one and the had taken all the badges off and replaced them with E class Mercedes badges😂😂
It's in the eye of the beholder, i think it's one of a kind. Actually it drives like a Rolls, and i know because i own one for 15 years. 350.000 miles now without any major problems.
These would’ve been a hit because they were actually somewhat popular at the time, but the power train for the class was lackluster, And those puny pedestrian wheels were terrible
Thing was a Frankenmonster. So hideous. I own a Hyundai/Kia now. Once they stopped trying to hybridize design concepts from accepted brands and designed their own stuff they did better.
