Sunday, February 14, 2016

Retraction: The Bongo is not named after Omar Bongo

The assertion I made in my previous post that the Kia Bongo was named after Omar Bongo is incorrect. As Ben pointed out in a comment to that post, Mazda began making Bongo vans in 1966 and Kia's Bongos are copies of them. I'd wondered why no mention of President Bongo's influence on the Kia Bongo's name appeared when I searched in contemporary newspapers. Now I know. Apologies for believing something that appeared in the Korea Times substantiated a rumor. Hopefully the Bongo ads were entertaining, at least.

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