This purple beauty is a Qinchuan Flyer QJC7081, commonly called ‘the Flyer’. It was a bit dusty and a bit dirty but in a very good general shape. I met it in the great city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province.
The beautiful Q logo in silver on a light blue background.
The Flyer was a child of a company called Xi’an Qinchuan Automobile, based in the great city of Xi’an in Shaanxi Province.
The company was founded in 1988 as the Qinchuan Machinery Works Automobile Sub-Factory, owned by North Industries, better known as Norinco, one of the largest weapon manufacturers of China.
Qinchuan created the ultra rare Beifang QJC7050 mini car, almost created a revolutionary streamlined car, and finally moved on make a licensed version of the sec-gen Suzuki Alto.
The Flyer arrived in 2001 and was based on the platform of the Alto. This way of ‘developing’ a car was very common in China in the 1990’s and early 00’s. Suzuki licensed the Alto to everyone who paid for it, while at the same time making the Alto in an official joint venture with Changan Auto.
Qinchuan Automobile was taken over by BYD in 2004 and the Qinchuan Flyer became the BYD Flyer. So the original Flyer was only made for about 4 years. The purple car we have here is an early example. Later cars got slightly different designations and a new badge.
The faux wood interior trim is typical for cheap Chinese cars in the 00’s. The seat covers cover the original cloth seats. The radio CD-player is an after-market example. Note the very tall gear lever!
The Qinchuan Flyer QJC7081 was powered by a 0.87 liter 3-cylinder petrol engine. This engine was based on a Suzuki design, but manufactured in China by a company called Harbin Dongan Automobile Power. Engine code: DA462-1A. Output was 41 hp, good for a 125 km/h top speed. Size: 3500/1445/1470, wheelbase 2300 and curb weight was only 750 kilo. Price started at a very decent 55.000 yuan.
Time to check some badges! First we have the Flyer badge in Latin script.
Then we have 秦川-福莱尔, or Qinchuan – Fulai’er. The latter part is a phonetic translation of Flyer.
The factory designation badge: QJC7081.
The Flyer sold pretty well in its days and even now they are not extremely rare. But in the big cities they are almost gone, so if you want to see one go to a smaller place, like Chengdu, with a population of just 9 million (city).
Note the Dongfeng-PSA Fukang on the left.
The Sichuan Province license plate is very cool. First reason: It is an old 川A plate, meaning this Flyer was one of the first privately registered cars in Sichuan. 2: The three 4’s. Sichuan’s Chinese name is 四川. It means ‘four rivers’. The character 四 means 4. And of course, the Sichuan chuan is the same chuan as the Qingchuan chuan.
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