A Buick Sail sedan, seen close to the Goldenport circuit in Beijing. The savvy Sail was in a reasonable shape, dusty and dirty but otherwise all right.
The Buick Sail sedan is basically a rebadged second-generation Opel Corsa wagon. It was manufactured in China from 2001 until 2004 by the Shanghai-GM joint venture, alongside the Buick Sail S-RV, which was based on the Opel Corsa wagon.
In 2005 the Buick Sail was reborn as the Chevrolet Sail. At the time General Motors decided to move the Buick brand upmarket and bring in Chevrolet for the lower end.
The interior is completely original down to the faux leather seats and the radio. And look at that gearbox, that is a proper tractor-style lever!
The Sail proved a massively popular car for private buyers, especially for young families, and the name continues until today.
The Buick Sail sedan was available with three Opel four-cylinder petrol engines: 1.2, 1.4, or 1.6, mated to a five-speed manual or a five-speed automatic.
Our white sedan is a 1.6 auto, with the SLX trim level. The 1.6 had an output of 88 hp and 128 Nm. The four-speed auto had four gears. Size: 4026/1608/1448, the wheelbase was 2443. Price in 2002: 98.800 yuan.
The Shanghai GM badge was in English, nowadays all badges are in Chinese.
Very classy Sail badge.
Black license plates were issued to foreign-owned companies from the 1980s to the early 00s. These companies could buy a car locally, and they were also allowed to import their own cars.
In the old days, black-plated cars had some privileges comparable to diplomatic cars; no police officer would dare to stop them and they could basically park wherever they wanted without fear of a fine.
Nowadays, a black-plated car is counted just like all the others. The government does not issue new black plates anymore but those who have one can keep it until eternity. The plates on the S80 T6 or of Hebei Province.
The Buick Sail, an icon of China’s automotive history. May she be remembered.