A Black Hongqi Century Star CA7202E3 In Beijing

This black beauty is a Hongqi Century Star, carrying the designation CA7202E3. I saw it in the Sanlitun embassy district in Beijing, looking perfectly clean.

The Century Star, Shijixing in Chinese, is based on the Audi 100 which was made in China by the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture. FAW is also the owner of the Hongi (Red Flag) brand.

The Hongqi Century Star was manufactured from 2000 until 2005. It was the last of the Audi-based Hongqi’s. But as well as being last, it was also the best. Most of the earlier Audi-based cars just had a new grille and new badges, but Hongqi went much further for the Century Star.

It got a new bumper, new lights, a new grille, a new bonnet, a totally new interior, a new rear bumper, new rear lights, and new wheels.

The Century Star was available with two engines: a FAW Audi-designed 1.8 with 95 hp, and a Nissan-sourced 2.0 VG20 V6 with 125hp. Our car has the latter under the bonnet. Both engines were mated to a five-speed manual.

Hongqi used all sorts of engines in their Audi-based cars: from Audi, from Volkswagen, from Nissan, and even from Chrysler. For an overview see this article.

Hongqi ditched the Audi interior for their own. It was shaped modern enough, with beige plastics and lots of fake wood.

The radio might look like cheap after market, but this was actually the factory-installed unit.

Price for the V6 model in 2005 started at 159.800 yuan. When the century Star launched in 2000, there were not many large sedans available in China, and the Century Star sold surprisingly well. Later on in life however many more cars entered the market, and sales went down fast. FAW ended production in 2005, and that is a very short run for a Hongqi-branded car.

Happily, the Century Star was a strong car, and even today some are still around. Note the subtle fins on the rear deck, another design feature added by Hongqi’s own designers.

CA7202E3 badge on the left below the light, and a V6 badge on the right atop the light.

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