The tougher Bongo Ceres farm truck outlived the regular Bongo by seven years, still built on a design traced back to a 1977 Mazda.
Lead trim: Bongo 1.4 "UC" petrol · up to 79 hp
Kia Bongo first generation1980–1994
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Kia Bongo first generation yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThe tougher Bongo Ceres farm truck outlived the regular Bongo by seven years, still built on a design traced back to a 1977 Mazda.
The Kia Bongo (also the K-Series, Frontier or, for the van, Besta) is a cabover pickup truck and van produced by Kia since 1980: truck production started in 1980 and the van in 1981, with early round headlights changed to square in 1981 and the "Kiamaster" logo replaced by "Kia" in February 1986. The first generation came with the 2.2 liter "S2" diesel of Perkins origins (70 PS), the 1.4 liter "UC" petrol as an option from 1985, the "Wide Bongo" from 1987, and between 1987 and 1990 the "Power Bongo" with the 80 PS 2.4 litre "SF" diesel and wide rectangular headlights. It was removed from production in December 1994, although the tougher Ceres agricultural version (a one-tonner sharing a slightly longer front end with the Kia Titan, four-wheel drive from 1987, derived from the 1977 Mazda Bongo BA2) continued for another seven years.
Collectors Spotted in the Kia Bongo Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Kia Bongo yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
3 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bongo 1.4 "UC" petrol | 1985–1994 | 1.4 L | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bongo 2.2 "S2" diesel (70 PS) | 1980–1990 | 2.2 L | 69 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
| Power Bongo 2.4 "SF" diesel (80 PS) | 1987–1990 | 2.4 L | 79 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
The humble Bongo went electric: Kia launched a battery-powered Bongo III in South Korea in 2020, good for up to 211 km (131 miles) per charge.
The Bongo Frontier's 1999 four-wheel-drive version didn't just add capability — it retired the rugged Ceres truck line, a lineage stretching back to the 1977 Mazda Bongo.
"Besta" means "beast" in Portuguese and several other Romance languages — and it didn't stop this Kia coach from becoming the best-selling minivan in Brazil.
The tougher Bongo Ceres farm truck outlived the regular Bongo by seven years, still built on a design traced back to a 1977 Mazda.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
The GMT400 split the twins for good: 1988 was the year "C/K" became Chevrolet-only badging, while GMC's version of the very same truck became the Sierra.
GMC found 10 extra horsepower in the Sierra All Terrain X's 5.3L V8 with nothing more than a performance exhaust, no other changes needed to go from 355 to 365 hp.
This Sierra kept rolling off the line for a full extra year after its replacement arrived - badged "Classic" in 2007 just to tell the two generations apart on dealer lots.
When this GMT900 Sierra launched for 2007, GM kept selling the outgoing truck alongside it, badged "Classic," so buyers could choose old or new side by side on the same lot.
Toyota showed it as the T150 until Ford sued over the likeness to the F-150, and the production truck was renamed Tundra.
A Louisiana owner put over a million miles on his 2007 Tundra in eight years; Toyota gave him a new truck and took his apart to study it.
Toyota's Texas Tundra plant sits on land bought from the state's oldest working cattle ranch, and the 1794 Edition is named for the year that ranch was founded.
Its launch colours had pun names such as "Anti-Establish Mint" and "Freudian Gilt", sent to Lee Iacocca by a friend.