19-07-2025
UK's rarest cars: 2003 Kia Magentis V6, one of only six left
When you consider that in 2003 Rover was still making cars at Longbridge, the early years of this century already seem impossibly remote. Meanwhile, turn-of-the-century drivers with an eye for a bargain could buy a new Kia Magentis for far less than the price of a similarly sized Ford or Vauxhall. Today, Ken German's 2.5 SE V6 is one of only six remaining on the road in the UK.
Kia (actually Kyungsung Precision Industry) of South Korea built its first car in 1974. The 1.0-litre Brisa was a version of the Mazda Familia made under licence; the company also made small numbers of the Fiat 132 and the Peugeot 604 for senior bureaucrats. Following the 1980 military coup, the new government permitted Kia to build only commercial vehicles. Car production would not resume until 1986.
By then, the South Korean motor industry was undergoing a vast expansion. In 1974, the nation produced only 9,069 vehicles. However, Autocar noted that 12 years later, 'more than 450,000 rolled off the production line. By the end of the decade, it will outstrip Britain as a car producer'.
In 1982, the Hyundai Pony became the first South Korean car sold in the UK and Kia imports began in June 1991 with the Pride, which was based on the 1987 Mazda 121 supermini. Hyundai took a majority share in Kia in 1998; the Kia K5 of 2000, essentially a re-badged Hyundai Sonata, was the first product of the new regime. UK sales began in 2001 using the Magentis name, which the concessionaire initially imported only in 2.5-litre V6 form.
When Sue Baker tested the new Kia for this paper, she found it agreeable company but 'less of a driver's car than some of its asserted rivals'. Her conclusion was that the Magentis offered 'a lot of car (and chrome) for the money'. At £12,995, the Magentis LX was the cheapest V6-powered car in the UK – £6,100 less than a Ford Mondeo 2.5 Zetec S. The top-of-the-range SE Sport H-Matic was £15,995 when a Vectra 2.6i V6 CD cost £19,145.
Autocar thought 'Kia's new Magentis showed it can build a car which is both good value and good to drive'. They also described the V6 engine as 'a corker' although the handling was 'more grand-boulevardier than 'gran-turismo'. The Magentis may have possessed a 'non-existent image' compared with some European rivals but was far better equipped, with a 'much nicer engine and gearbox' than the market-leading Mondeo.
The second-generation version replaced the original model in 2005. This earlier example's owner German first heard of the Magentis in 2013 when he needed a 'cheap runaround' and acquired a nine-year-old 2.0-litre LX. Six years later, he sought another vehicle to augment his Jaguar Mk2 over the winter months and came by a Magentis 2.5 SE V6.
