A very clean Hongqi Mingshi CA7180A3E, seen in southwest Beijing on a summer’s day. The Red Flag sedan was in a perfect shape; the paint looked as new, chrome as shiny as the sun, and the wheels are period original.
The Mingshi CA7180A3E was one of the many Audi 100-based Hongqi’s. The Audi 100 which made in China by the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture. FAW is also the owner of the Hongi (Red Flag) brand. Under a deal with Volkswagen, the Chinese were allowed to use the Audi 100 as base for their Hongqi sedan.
My great Giant Braver bicycle. China-made, but real. Best bike in the world. Agile and fast. Perfectly balanced. Light, but not too light. I rode all over Beijing with it, and it never ever broke down. I still got it!
Back to the car. The Mingshi CA7180A3E arrived in 2000 and was manufactured until 2003. These short production runs were common for Hongqi at that time. They had this odd way of launching new variants multiple times a year, so at any given time they were selling various versions of the same car, for about the same price.
CA7180A3E badge on the left. Handwritten Hongqi badge in the middle. And a cool ABS badge on the right. Big ‘n shiny pipe is original.
Power came from a CA4GE 1.8 liter four-cylinder petrol engine. This engine was originally developed by Audi, but manufactured by FAW. Output was 94 hp and 157 Nm. The engine was mated to a five-speed manual. Price in 2002 started at 143.800 yuan, which wasn’t that much for a big sedan with near-one hundred horses.
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