This generation Sportage (the first) is starting to get a wee bit thin on the ground. We’ll have to shoot one sometime and do a proper CC. But the shorty model has become a true rarity, and I just barely got one shot of this one as I pulled in to get gas and she was just about to pull out. A relic from a time when these “landaulet” CUVs were all the rage.
Here’s what it looked like from the front. Did you know that according to Wikipedia, this generation Sportage was based on the Mazda Bongo van? I knew it had a Mazda 2.0 FE engine and related transmission, but I didn’t realize it shared anything more significant with the Bongo. I do remember reading that these little CUVs are not unibody; they have a full frame, which may explain the relationship with the Bongo. Or not. In any case, I like the Bongo name better.
Completely forgot about these. Looks like KIA took a Suzuki and copies it.
I didn´t even know these “landauet” short versions existed. We had 2 long versions here: a “normal” one and an extended, 3-row version. They aren’t aging well and already disappearing…
So with these dying out, is it Bedtime for Bongo?
Rimshot!
My brother bought a brand new ’98 4 door Sportage and never drove it because he always had company rigs. He sold it to my best friend Doug this past December for $2000. It had 21,400 miles on it at the time. The design was good, the build quality was not, but one must remember these were built when KIA was barely alive, and the employees literally did not know if they were going to see their next pay day. Can’t blame them for shoddy workmanship.
The view selection and wide track of the first pic, with the ‘appearance’ of a shorter hood, lends a cab forward quality to the design.
These aren’t CUVs at all. They are a BOF design with a front engine rwd layout. 4wd versions use a dual range separate transfer case…its a legit 4×4 not a car based on road awd setup. Like the Sidekick/Tracker and the Diahatsu Rocky, these may look pretty ‘cutesy’ but they do have some level of off-road chops. It’s easy to mistake these for CUVs…park one next to a soft top RAV4 (yes, they exist) and they look like siblings.
Never knew about the tie-in with the Mazda Bongo. Im aware of the Bongo only on account of Im a huge Mad Max fan–that’s the tiny van that gets T-boned by Big Boppa’s MFP patrol car.
Here is one in the Tampa Bay Craigslist. I never really paid attention to the short ones. Did they ever make a 4X4?
The photo did not make into my comment
Funny, I stumbled across that same CL posting a few days back and looked it over more than once. I shopped these in the late 90’s-2000-ish, and if I recall correctly the 2 door only came with RWD and automatic, which crossed it off my list (in addition to the fact that I couldn’t get my head around a convertible that didn’t expose the driver to the sun…what was the point?)
I had no idea these existed either. These bright colored little two door ragtop “CUVs” of the 80s-90s were so much cooler than their beige sedanized successors. Grown ups are no fun.
+1000
Wow – never seen a two door, soft top variant before. I wonder if it was not offered in Canada. The four door was quite popular here but as you saw getting a little rare these days.
I never understood these tiny, open-back landaulet CUVs (others were the Isuzu Amigo and a short-lived version of the 1st gen Toyota RAV4). It was time-consuming to remove the top and I saw no benefit, unlike the traditional, full soft-top as on the Jeep Wrangler or Suzuki Sidekick/Geo Tracker. I guess it was just another variation of the opening rear compartment that may have begun with the Studebaker Wagonaire and concluded with the Envoy XUV, both of which were also miserable failures.
The only vehicles of this type that seemed to have any measure of success were the Chevy Avalanche and its sister, the Cadillac Escalade EXT, and I suspect it was because of their much larger size and similarity to a traditional, full-size pickup, which gave them most of the same carrying capacity.
It probably takes a lot less engineering to just cut off the back than to cut off the whole roof, in terms of both body stiffening and rollover protection. I suspect they did this mostly to offer something like a convertible without the cost of actually engineering a convertible.
I think Anthony got it right, likely body stiffness/safety. Jeeps we’re full open tops but as far as I know all of them had full roll bars standard by the 80s and beyond at least. Realistically the equivelant of having bare chassis pillars.
The Sidekick/Tracker were actually done the same way as this Kia, utilizing an integrated to the body B pillar/”main hoop”, what the Kia is lacking is the removable (targa?) top for front passengers. The First gen RAV4 and Isuzu Amigo at least had pop-up sunroofs
Unlike the pop-up sunroofs of the RAV4 and Amigo, the Sidekick/Tracker had a clever arrangement where the front section of the soft-top could be easily folded back from the inside of the vehicle. There were also aftermarket (eventually OEM) soft tops that actually separated the soft-top into two sections which could be removed independently of each other, with the front section being known as a ‘bikini’ top. It worked very well in the event of a sudden shower in that the front section could be quickly closed in, literally, a few seconds, keeping the driver and front passenger dry, although the open aft section would still get soaked.
It’s worth noting that the soft-top Sidekick/Tracker stayed in production much longer than any of the other, so-called landaulets. Part of the reason might have been that it was a much better urban vehicle than the rather crude Wrangler. The Sidekick/Tracker was relatively civilized in comparison.
That’s where most of the semi-closed-top landuelets failed: they aspired to be urban, mini-Wranglers but didn’t quite live up to the open top, freedom lifestyle of the Jeep.
This is probably the only small 4×4 that was sold in the U.S. market where the shorter wheelbase version arrived AFTER the long wheelbase model.
Didn’t know or had forgotten that these “convertible” models were 2wd only, and with only an automatic transmission to boot.
I had a co-worker who really wanted to buy one of these to replace a 10+ year old 4 cylinder powered Oldsmobile Ciera sedan. Not knowing about the notorious, leaky, plastic intake manifold used on the GM 3.1 V6 I steered him to a 2001 Buick Century. Out of the frying pan and into the fire? We remained friends, but just barely when he had to “tear into” that V6 and replace not only the manifold.
The 2-dr wasn’t limited to 2wd/automatic. They just sold a lot of them that way. There was a soft top 4×4 manual tested in 1999 Four Wheeler of yhe year.
Paul,
I think I can do a CC on the Sportage convertible or at least supply the pics of one. My neighbor 5 doors down owns a 2001 that is the same color as the one in the top pic. It just got a new top on it. They have had it for years (they are the second owner) and it seems to be doing well save a replaced front bumper and splash shield due to a blow out of the front left tire while doing 60 mph (it cracked the side of the bumper that destroyed the splash shield)
It is actually surprisingly roomy and comfortable to drive/ride in front seat wise. I don’t ever remember seeing it with the top down.
These are BOF!? WOW! I look forward to finding one in the junkyard and studying it more. Could explain why a scant few Sportages are lifted and sport beefier tires, but Sportages are not terribly common around here. At least Kia avoided the follies of the Big Three and has kept the Sportage name for about two decades.
Ive seen a dark blue one with a small lift on it in Beaverton. Looked pretty rough like it was used as a boonie basher. But these things (like the Suzukis) are pretty much beefed up go-karts/UTVs that you can drive on the street. MUCH more appealing than the watered down mommie mobiles that occupy this class nowadays.
When I bought my Grand Vitara last year, I was looking at ads for these also (4dr version). They don’t seem to have survived as well as the GV/Tracker here in MI, ones I saw were very rusty (especially behind the rear wheels) and in generally poor condition. They seemed to have more interior space though, wish I could’ve found a decent one to test drive.
Other curiosity about this one. The Sportage (1999 facelift) was one of the first (or THE first, I don’t know), with a knee airbag. Here is a set of airbags from a ’99
Yes I knew but trying to explain here how many other brands were rebadged or based on Mazdas isnt popular.
As a 4X4 these and the lwb offer reasonable off-road capacity on a budget. They are also simple to work on and repair. The below shows some lwb KIAs on a trip in Israel, the only equivalent at that price range is the Suzuki.
From what I heard, the 1st gen Sportage was supposed to be a collaboration with Ford. Concept and plan were came from Ford, and Kia took part in development. Ford also suggested to Kia that they would took 100k Sportages from 150k production per year, but Ford wanted the 50% share of the Kia company, which caused conflicts between them. After that, Ford went away from the project, and Kia developed Sportage fending for themselves.
You can see more specific development process in here: http://gotocar.egloos.com/1392061 (Korean language site, English is not my first language)
I had a 1999 Sportage 2 door a few years ago, picked up for $450 off craigslist from a rather brawny man. I sold it (at a nice profit) because it was missing the ragtop and rainy weather was approaching but it was a rather fun little truck with some pep to it, and I saw it running around town for a few years afterward. These were definitely BOF and very truck like down to the loud engine driven fan.
My step daughter had this 99 from new till 07 or 08. I have seat and drive time in it. I didnt think it was all that bad. I can tell you the econ/power switch for the transmission makes a BIG difference in performance.