This is the highly-peculiar, and not-so-often-discussed 1997 Samsung SSC-1. In the early 90’s, Samsung, the multinational conglomerate headquartered in Seoul, South Korea was looking into the possibility of utilizing their resources and technology to create automobiles. Lee Kun-hee, former chairman of Samsung Electronics, attempted to take a simple route by just purchasing Kia as a whole, but when that didn’t work, Lee formed two new subsidiaries: Samsung Motors (1994), for car production, and Samsung Commercial Vehicles (1996). Technical assistance was provided to Samsung at the time by Nissan, and unfortunately, with the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the company began selling cars at possibly one of the worst times in 1998. During all of this, dreams of creating Korea’s first ever mid-engine super car were prevalent. First ever revealed at the 1997 Seoul Motor Show, the SSC-1 was built to be a fully-functioning car with desirable elements such as a five-speed manual transmission, a double wishbone suspension and even Brembo brakes. The SSC-1 was an unprecedented technology-packed rear-wheel drive machine built with a fiberglass body and headlights from a 300ZX. Only a year after the car was first shown, in 1998, Samsung began negotiations with French multinational automobile manufacturer, Renault. By the year 2000, Samsung Motors became a subsidiary company of Renault, and the name was then changed to become Renault Samsung Motors(RSM). This gave Samsung a major boost in the ability to market their mid-priced vehicles, but almost nothing in terms of their aspirations of building the next best South Korean sports car. That being said, the SSC-1 never developed any further than the concept/prototype stage, however, the original company established between Renault and Samsung still exists today, now called Renault Korea Motors (RKM), and they offer a small variety of vehicles for sale.
How many made? 2
Engine: Nissan’s 2.5 litre V6 producing a respectable 190hp
Debut: 1997 Seoul Motor Show
Top Speed: N/A
0-60: N/A
Photo Credit: @hwa_seop_911
Research: @rarecarsonly