62
W
MALIBU, CALIFORNIA—
AS MUCH AS cars from the Hyundai-Kia-Genesis
juggernaut have improved over the past couple of
decades, driver appeal has never been a strong
point—at least it wasn’t until 2015, when Hyundai
hired Albert Biermann away from BMW’s M Division.
He’s steadily improved the group’s products, but the
Kia Stinger is his first standard-bearer.
After nearly a year with our Four Seasons Stinger,
the Automobile staff knows it’s the real deal, but is
the rest of America ready to believe in a driver’s car
from Kia? That was the backdrop for introducing our
Stinger to the godfathers of American performance:
the Original Venice Crew.
Fifty-four years ago, Jim Marietta, Ted Sutton, and
Peter Brock were part of the Shelby American team
that helped Carroll Shelby create cars like the compe-
tition-ready GT350R. Today the trio makes continua-
tion-build GT350Rs from ’65 Mustangs the same way
they did in Carroll’s day. Their built-to-order Mus-
tangs boast a few minor enhancements that Shelby
had (or might have) planned for the original, such as
aerodynamic elements for the front valance and rear
window, engine improvements, and an optional inde-
pendent rear suspension. Still, there’s not much in the
new cars that couldn’t have been done in 1965.
The connection to our Kia? Technically, the Stinger
has some Ford ancestry: Not long after the OVC started
wrenching on Fords, Hyundai started making the Ford
Cortina, Granada, and Taunus for the Korean market,
and Kia made U.S.-market Festivas and Aspires on
Ford’s behalf.
Still, would these guys scoff at driving our newfan-
gled, fuel-injected, twin-turbo, electronic-nanny-laden
four-door? Nope—car guys are car guys, and they were
eager for a chance to wring out the Stinger.
Marietta and Sutton accompany us to the wildfire-
ravaged hills above Malibu, California, home to some
of the world’s greatest driving roads. They’ve brought
one of their competition GT350s, and Marietta con-
ducts a walk-around to demonstrate what the “origi-
nal” in Original Venice Crew really means.Old
School
Me e t s
New
School