A beautiful black Hongqi CA7200E3L, seen in the north of Beijing near a suit shop. I remember it well. My girlfriend wanted to buy me a new suit, because she thought my suits looked totally crap.
Well; there was a reason for that. I hate wearing suits, and buying a new one I hate even more. Measuring trying measuring some more trying . Aaaah!
Back now to the car. A great looking CA7200E3L, an extended variant of the Hongqi CA7200, which in turn was based on the Audi 100, which at the time was made at the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture. FAW, or First Auto Works, is also the owner of the Hongqi brand.
The CA7200E3L was extended behind the C-pillar, instead of on the B-pillar, which was far more common. It was stretched with 316 millimeter to a total length of 5109 mm.
The Hongqi CA7200E3L debuted in 1999 and was made until 2002. This kind of short production runs were totally normal for Hongqi at the time. Power came from a Nissan-sourced 2.0 liter V6 (VG20) with 123 hp and 167 Nm. The engine was mated to a 5-speed manual. Top speed was 173 km/h. Price, in 2009, started at a hefty 244.500 yuan.
CA7200E3L badge on the left. Handwritten Hongqi badge in the middle. V6 badge on the right. Until about ten years ago these Audi-based Hongqi limousines were still fairly common in Beijing. Sadly, nowadays most of these great cars have been scrapped.
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