New Model Cars

"It's fun, it's distinctive and if you don't 'get it', you're too old" said Steve Chalmers, editor of Fast Car magazine, about the new Soul Burner when it was chosen as 'Best New Model' for 2009 in the annual Fast Car magazine Awards.

First shown as a concept at the Detroit motor show in 2006, the Kia Soul emerged as a trio of concepts at Geneva in March 2008 and finally in full production-ready guise at Paris in September 2008 before going on sale in the UK at the start of March this year.

Readers of Fast Car magazine define trends and help to set the style for the modified car culture.

Steve Chalmers added; "Kia has taken a concept car, kept the best attributes and put it on the road. We couldn't believe that Kia had followed through from an awesome concept to production with the 18-inch wheels, dragon decal and distinctive red detailing. We're looking forward to seeing more Kia motors in the pages of Fast Car in the future."

The UK model range has taken it's inspiration from the Geneva trio, adopting a five model line-up - entry level Soul 1, volume model Soul 2 and the 'Soul Originals', made up of three unique characters. The Soul Samba, Shaker and Burner take on individual styles and looks. Samba, only available in Tornado Red, features 18-inch five spoke alloy wheels, privacy glass and an eight-speaker stereo system with sub-woofer and separate amplifier.