The Daewoo Musiro Musiro (Korean for 'Any Time [now]') was the penultimate concept vehicle to emerge from Daewoo

Daewoo

Daewoo or the Daewoo Group was a major South Korean chaebol . It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was dismantled by the Korean government in 1999...

's UK Worthing Technical Centre product development facility. Launched at the 2000 British Motor Show British International Motor Show

British International Motor Show

The British International Motor Show is an automobile show held biennially in the United Kingdom. It is recognised as an international show by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles. The 2008 was the last event with no news of a return of the British International Motor Show...

 the Musiro built on Daewoo's emerging 'Designed Around You' product mantra and was a distilation of the earlier and more advanced 1999 Miraehttp://features.conceptcar.co.uk/daewoodesign/exterior.php show car's Versatile Sports Car (VSC) concept.

Concept

Unlike the Mirae the Musiro was based on a future Daewoo underbody but still included the kind of reconfigurable interior flexibility features more normally found in MPV's making the Musiro an especially advanced and innovative vehicle. The neat exterior reminded viewers of the Audi TT but the coupe lines disguised an innovative opening roof. The traditional issues of open top cars being less stiff than closed roof cars nad folding 'hardtop cars' having little boot space was solved by Worthing's Daewoo designers - the roof panel and rear window articulate themselves, using the cant rails as guides (disguising the tracks), and once vertically stacked then dropped behind the rear seats. The trunk lost retained almost all of its volume and rear passengers were not affected either, plus with impressive stiffness there was no trade-off in dynamic ability.

The interior utilised unusual translucent materials to facilitate communication between occupants and avoiding the claustrophobic sensation of most coupes. Colours owed more to the catwalk than automotive fashions of the time. The innovative seats were supported not on the floor as usual but on the outer sills and central console (a tube like element) which it was claimed allowed a significantly wider range of movement than usual. The rear seats could slide forwards from back to front to aide ingress and egress - never a coupe strong point. The front passenger seat could be partially stored under the dashboard or slide rearwards so a parent could communicate more easily with a child in the rear.

Design Team responsible
Chris Milburn, Chief Designer, Mark Oldham, Senior Exterior Designer, Juan Jose Delhom, Exterior Designer, Paul Wraith, Senior Interior Designer, Dominique Raye, Colour and Trim Design Manager, Louise Woodward, Colour and Trim Designer

Specifications

Exterior Dimensions
Length - 4250mm
Width - 1780mm
Height - 1340mm
Wheelbase - 2540mm

Performance
Top speed - 135 mph
0-60 acceleration - 7.9 seconds

Engine
Daewoo XS6 in-line six cylinder 2.5-litre engine

Reception and Legacy

The Musiro was well received by the press and gained positive coverage. Musiro was viewed as a signal that although Daewoo was at this time struggling under financial collapse and seeking a new owner (initiall Ford then later General Motors) the brand had potential.
Later Worthing Technical Centre and Musiro was sold to the Tom Wilkinshaw Tom Walkinshaw

Tom Walkinshaw

Tom Walkinshaw was a Scottish racing car driver and the founder of the racing team Tom Walkinshaw Racing...

 of the TWR group Tom Walkinshaw Racing

Tom Walkinshaw Racing

Tom Walkinshaw Racing , was an auto racing team and engineering firm founded in 1976 by touring car racer Tom Walkinshaw.-History:TWR started by modifying BMW 3.0 CSLs, but soon was contracted to head Mazda's works program in the British Touring Car Championship. The TWR developed RX-7, with Win...

. It is understood the model still remains at TWR's Leafield facility (now owned by Aguri Suzuki Aguri Suzuki

Aguri Suzuki

is a former racing driver from Japan. He participated in 88 Formula One Grands Prix, and his most notable achievement in racing was 3rd place at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix. Suzuki then became involved in team ownership, with interests firstly in the Japanese Formula Nippon Championship and the...

 F1 team Super Aguri F1

Super Aguri F1

Super Aguri F1 was a Formula One team that competed from to . The team, founded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki, was based in Tokyo, Japan but operated from the former Arrows factory at the Leafield Technical Centre, Oxfordshire. The cars were referred to as Super Aguri Hondas, with the team...

). Worthing Technical Centre was finally closed in 2002 after the financial collapse of the TWR group.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article987569.ece Times.co.uk

External links

• http://www.21stcentury.co.uk/cars/daewoo_musiro.asp 21st Century article about the Musiro