Daewoo Mirae FIA GT
Car of the Day #315: 1999 Daewoo Mirae ‘FIA GT’ concept – So close, so far
This will be more of a postmortem on the 1999 Daewoo Mirae concept car and a little-known racing version, for one important reason: I've had lots of help on this one.
More than 10 years ago, I was able to interview Sam Livingstone, head of Car Design Research, a Car of the Day subscriber, and most importantly: a member of the team behind this car.
With unprecedented documentation to draw from, and with the help of its exterior designer, Guy Colborne (you may know him from track car purveyor Elemental Cars), providing sketches of a proposed Mirae FIA GT car, I hope this will end Daewoo Week in the best possible way…
Daewoo Week 2025
Note: These cars were all released within eight years from 1995-2002.
michael banovsky
michael banovsky
michael banovsky
michael banovsky
michael banovsky
Hey, for 2000, it ain’t too shabby. • Daewoo, Sam Livingstone
The Daewoo Mirae concept car is a design where the longer you look, the better it gets: what would happen if you combined a Toyota MR2, Mazda RX-8, and Hyundai Veloster?
Let's begin with an extended quote from Livingstone:
“The Daewoo brand in the UK was a little different—the way the cars were sold was properly pioneering stuff (no dealerships being the central point, off-the-scab warranty at the time, etc.), and consequently became the fastest-growing car brand in a one-nation market on record I believe (we had 6% share whilst all other territories in Europe were sub 2%). Probably not much of interest to the design story, but it remains a textbook case study and was much lauded in the day, won a ton of awards, etc.
“At the UK-based design centre we wanted a sports car for the whole show car drama, to showcase the new six cylinder engine (yes, a project instigated by the famous Dr. Ulrich Bez of Porsche and BMW fame then—and Aston subsequently), and as part of that engine’s mission to stand a little taller in the wider car market. Daewoo was a very young car company, but was a properly large Chaebol and I think reached the apparent status of 23rd largest company in the world for a brief (illusionary) time.”
Browsing a trove of documents, I can see exactly what the Mirae was shooting for in the late 1990s: the Toyota MR2. Well, a more practical version of the MR2.
“Mirae” = Future in Korean, according to Daewoo’s official presentation on the car • Daewoo
With that snappy, Dr. Ulrich Bez-designed mid-mounted six-cylinder engine in hand, why not? (The motor did eventually make production in the Daewoo Magnus—known to you and I as both the Chevrolet Epica and Suzuki Verona).
Daewoo Mirae interior sketches / renders • Daewoo, Sam Livingstone
Swelling from 350 in 1994 to around 900 employees in 1999, the Daewoo Worthing Technical Centre was a state-of-the-art facility that contained just about everything needed to make great cars; the company had even bought an entire business park nearby to help with expansion.
While we all know it went up in smoke, I think it’s important to note the ambition of both Daewoo and the designers of this car: it’s a seriously impressive concept, if a little dated these days due to a lack of LEDs on its nose.
If you can suffer through a bit of techno — and in some videos, Quentin Wilson's narration, you'll quickly note something that sets the Mirae apart from other concepts: movable centre steering.
That's right: with clever reconfigurable seats, the Mirae was able to suit both an enthusiastic driver and her family, something automakers have all but given up on.
Also, check out that baby seat!
Can I caption this ROFL? • Daewoo
One of my favourite features of the concept was the application of gesture control, a technology still in infancy, because it demonstrates a real attempt at reducing distractions while behind the wheel.
This is before the wrath of smartphones, of course. Citroën PLR-style controls beside the main gauge cluster are a nice touch also.
Fancy controls weren't just fluff, though. From the release:
“It meets an obvious need. Over the years, a growing number of practical cars have evolved to embrace higher performance. Now the performance car has evolved to offer practicality without compromising driving excitement.
“It is a practical, flat-floored, high-performance sports car that can carry two adults, all their skiing or snowboarding gear and enough luggage for a two-week holiday. Nor is it a strict two-seater: there's even enough space for a young family—parents and three under-fives—planning a long weekend away.”
Daewoo Mirae concept car taking shape in the studio; note the intricate show car details, such as the side mirrors and alloy wheels. • Daewoo, Sam Livingstone
In some ways, this design team foreshadowed vehicles that take the ‘easy’ way out, like the Mercedes-Benz GLA45 AMG — a front-drive hatchback beefed-up with all-wheel-drive and lots of power to regain a shred of performance.
The Mirae's approach was different: take a mid-engined car and adapt it to the needs of a young family. I like that. One last note on the car's interior, and design process, from Livingstone:
“The designer of the interior, Paul Wraith, and I mapped out the interior layout(s) with tape on the floor of my Brighton apartment in the first instance, but he and Guy own the interior and exterior design respectively, with both working even then in a fluent mix of analogue (sketches and full-size tapes) and digital for a very fast development.
“The three of us were still in our twenties then, as was most of the design team — ’twas a pretty fun place to be with a major churn of work (at the time we were perhaps the most productive car design studio in the world creating over 23 different vehicle designs in the three years I was there with a pint sized team) and a properly nice crowd all based on the southern coast of England…”
Like so many concepts and prototypes featured in this newsletter, however, the Mirae didn't stand a chance.
Daewoo Mirae concept car at the 1999 Seoul Motor Show, and in final form • Daewoo, Sam Livingstone
With a hilariously overextended parent company and a situation where, confusingly, many of the Daewoo production cars designed by Giugiaro’s ItalDesign, the team at the Worthing Technical Centre had little opportunity to see their ideas translate into reality.
Just be happy that the team behind this car has largely migrated to other design studios and consulting firms, and that many of the ideas in this car will live on.
After the jump, want to see what the Mirae may have looked like as a racing car for the year 2000?