Detroit 2009: Kia Soul'ster guns for fun and frolic

Filed under: Concept Cars, Detroit Auto Show, Convertibles, Kia

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Kia Soul'ster

The Kia Soul has people talking. Specifically, you. Kia's media presentation here in Detroit highlighted feedback from the Autoblog commentariat. No, we didn't know in advance, but you won't hear us complaining either. However, the star of the show for Kia wasn't the Soul -- it's a new concept derived from the boxy people-mover.

After some dancing fanfare involving large placards, the Kia Soul'ster drove onstage. Put simply, it's cool. The two-door design study looks like a pickup from the side, but the "cab" is open-air, much like the old Isuzu Amigo. Pretty much everything on the car is manual: the gearbox, the window cranks, and the two-piece canvas roof. Other details set it apart from its wagonoid brother, such as a slightly chopped roofline and dual exhausts with carbon fiber sleeves. The roof lamps integrated into the roll bars are a nice touch, too. Cantilevered seats mounted off the center console free up storage room beneath them, and there's a small cargo space aft of the second row. The Soul'ster's meant to be an economical four-cylinder, tarmac-only, front-wheel-drive plaything whose primary mission is fun. It sure looks the part, so now the ball's in Kia's court. Do they have the stones to actually follow through and build something like this? Tell them what you think below. One thng's certain: they'll be reading.

Gallery: Detroit 2008: Kia Soul'ster Live

Gallery: Kia Soul'ster Concept

Detroit 2009: Kia Soul'ster guns for fun and frolic originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kia Soul-Based Concept Teased Ahead Of Detroit [Detroit Auto Show]

Kia's released the first teaser shot of a concept based on the 2010 Soul it plans to bare at next month's Detroit Auto Show.

While this teaser image doesn't reveal much about the Kia Soul Concept, our first guess to what it could be is a light duty pickup variant or possibly a delivery van with some high-tech gizmos on the inside. Others have speculated we'll see a Kia Soul coupe. Truthfully, we're really not sure what it could be. Kia is being pretty tight-lipped about this one so our guess is as good as yours, but we'll be sure to update you with new pictures as they become available.

[via Kia]

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