On the one hand, it is sad when a bold project does not find its real embodiment. On the other hand, as a consolation comes the thought that, probably, everything that happened (or instead, did not happen) was for the best. The Shiraz concept car was just like that – it never received a serial appearance, but it's even good.
Korean automakers became seriously active and unequivocally hinted about their desire to conquer the European market in the early 90s of the last century – the abundance of various concept cars, including sports cars, indicated that expansion was inevitable. Daewoo also participated in this saber-rattling. At the 1997 Seoul Motor Show, before the Geneva Auto Show, the company rolled out three spectacular concepts at once - Tacuma, Matiz, and Shiraz.
If you are more or less familiar with the Daewoo model range, you know that the Tacuma and Matiz models have found their serial embodiment, which cannot be said about the Shiraz sedan. About a month after the debut in Seoul, the second Shiraz concept was shown in Geneva (two copies were collected). There were no differences from the car for Korea.
The Shiraz was a full-fledged executive class sedan: the length of the body painted by Guy Colborne exceeded five meters, the interior was trimmed with leather and wood, and under the hood was the newest V8 with a very modest displacement (only 2.5 liters). In those years, Daewoo increased production turnover from year to year, so the appearance of a new executive class model seemed to be only a matter of time.
Surprisingly, the car did not go into the series. However, in the summer of the same 1997, the Leganza model got on the conveyor, in the design of which there were many borrowings of the conceptual Shiraz. The ideological embodiment of the concept can be considered a large sedan Chairman built on the Mercedes W124 platform. But the Chairman did not enjoy much success.
There is reason to assume that the Shiraz remained a concept for quite a logical explanation – the European market was not ready for independent Korean executive class sedans (the car was greeted with little enthusiasm in Geneva). But times are changing – and large sedans from the South Korean brand Genesis are now selling well. It's just that Shiraz himself appeared at the wrong time.
Source: motor.ru (translated from Russian)
Images Source: Mario Buonocunto Concept Cars Page
