While some automakers at the SEMA Show bring concepts aimed directly at their showrooms, with dealer accessories or other bolt-ons that show the car’s potential, Kia just goes crazy building toys that make you smile.
Our first example is the A1A Optima, named aptly for Florida’s coastal byway most known for its winding tropical paradise route through the southern Keys. So the A1A Optima loses it top so you can take in the Sunshine State, seeing it, and smelling it as you motor along.
Built by LUX Motorwerks, the car gets suicide doors and a strengthened body structure trimmed out with white leather seats, a shortened windshield, and a custom turquoise paint job. The 20-inch HRE wheels and Tiarra Luxury grilles make it just as at home in South Beach as in the Keys.
The PacWest Adventure Sorento is just as bonkers, but themed for the Pacific Northwest mountain life. It’s a crossover, but this one has been fully tube framed and gets a major lift with an infusion of robust mechanicals to back up its looks in the rough.
Looking like something out of a Jurassic Park movie, the custom Sorento has a chameleon paint job to go with its LED light bars, matte black trims, and 17-inch bead-lock wheels. The roof rack is a survival kit, with everything needed for extended immersion in the woods.
And just because it’s a minivan doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. In fact of these concepts, this one to me smacks the most possible of a production intent model. That being a crossover pickup. But that pie-in-the-sky notion aside, this concept is still over the top.
The Photo Safari Sedona is themed as an image-capturing machine with endless possibilities for photographers to capture nature as they ride. It’s packed with camera mounting possibilities in addition to all the off-road mods – a list way to long to get into here.
Then there’s the Forte Koup Mud Bogger. Really? Yeah really. This is what happens when you take the dune buggy approach to your average front-wheel drive sport compact coupe and add a dose of race-built off-road hardware.
Another built by Lux Motorwerks, this one got a 4-inch lift, 28-inch off-road tires, and a full tube frame and suspension makeover to make it the real deal. And just makes sense doesn’t it? A Forte Koup, for Mud Bogging.
I tease, but I have to hand it to Kia for making even Galpin Auto Sports creations look pretty mild mannered at the SEMA Show. Someone has to build the toys that only a kid could dream up.
