Daewoo does not build many cars like the Daewoo Espero: a 4-door saloon with Petrol engine, built from 1990 to 2002 when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. Its designer of record is Bertone under Marc Deschamps.
The background
The Daewoo Espero (also known as Daewoo Aranos in Spain) is a four-door, five-seater mid-sized saloon produced by the South Korean company Daewoo Motors from September 1990 to 1997. The Espero was the first car entirely developed by Daewoo, which until then had only manufactured models developed by Opel.
With the body designed by Bertone, the model is based on the platform of the Daewoo LeMans, a badge engineered version of the Opel Kadett E manufactured in South Korea. The engines were supplied by Holden, with options ranging from the GM Family 1 1.5L to the GM Family II 2.0L. The Espero was replaced by the Daewoo Nubira in 1997, but continued to be produced until 2002 in Eastern Europe.
The engineering
Under the skin sits Petrol engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Kerb weight is 1108 kg. The gearbox is a 4-speed Aisin 50-42LE automatic / 5-speed manual. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 2620 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Where it sits in Daewoo's history is not in doubt: the Daewoo Leganza (for Espero 2.0) / Daewoo Nubira (South Korea) followed it; it was built at Bupyeong. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Renault Clio, the Honda NSX, the Ford Explorer. Its Daewoo stablemates include the Daewoo Honker 2000 and the Daewoo Arcadia.