When Kia was founded in 1944, it was a bike parts company. It built the country's first domestically produced bike in 1951 and moved on to motorcycles in 1957. Kia started building Mazda vehicles under license in 1962, but its first in-house vehicle didn't arrive until 1986. Even so, it wasn't truly independent, as its Festiva relation shows.

This humble 1996 Pride EV Concept electric restomod is Kia’s 80th birthday present to itself.

Electric version of Kia Pride subcompact sold in America as the Ford Festiva was converted by UK-based Electrogenic

The starting point for this build was a ‘Kingfisher Blue’ five-door 1996 Pride 1.3 LX from Kia UK’s heritage fleet. We’re told the four-pot engine made 60bhp and a heady 8

Pride EV Concept electric restomod is Kia’s 80th birthday present to itself. The 1.3-liter, 60-horsepower engine is gone, and in its place is an electric motor that produces 107 horsepower and 173 pound-feet of torque.