Here we have a very pretty Yunque GHK7071A Sports-4, seen in front of the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing in 2007. To see any Yunque is special, but one in red and fitted with the optional factory body kit was truly amazing. It made my month.
The Yunque next to a FAW-Volkswagen Jetta with a black license plate. The Workers’ Stadium in the background was long a very central location of life in the central east part of Beijing. There were sport events, concerts, all sorts of other events, and there were many bars and restaurants under and around the stadium. It was a brilliant place, I must have been there a trillion times during my 16+1 years in Beijing. It was built in 1959 and renovated in 2004 in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Sadly, in 2020 the entire stadium and surrounding area were demolished. A new stadium is currently under construction. Will it ever be as good as the old one? Of course now. Old stuff is ALWAYS better than new stuff.
Case in point: this car. They don’t make ‘m like that anymore (:
The Yunque GHK7071A was manufactured from 1998 until 2003 by Yungque-Subaru, a joint venture between the Guizhou Aviation Industry Corporation (GAIC) and Subaru Motors. The GHK7071A was based on the second generation Subaru Rex. The joint venture also made the Yunqu GHK7070-series, based on the Subaru Vivio.
The Sports-4 was a sporty edition that debuted in 2000. It came with super cool stickers. This one says: 4 EMPI Cylinder, and happily it also says what EMPI means: Electronic Multipoint Injection.
Power came from a Subaru ‘EN07’ 0.7 liter 4-cylinder petrol engine that pooped out 40hp and 48.8 Nm. Gearbox was a 4-speed manual, sending horses to the front wheels. Top speed was a decent 120 km/h, partially thanks to the low curb weight of 685 kilo (965 kg gross). It was cheap too! Price in 2003 for the Sports-4 was 44.600 yuan.
The body kit was a factory option. I remember seeing the brochures for it on car markets. It looked pretty mad, with new bumpers, new side skirts, a new grille, and new headlight units.
Badges! On the left: 云雀GHK7071A. 云雀 = Yunque. The sticker is for the UAA or United Automobile Association. This refers to a membership association set up by several Chinese financial companies in 2005, providing insurance, maintenance, hotel bookings and other services. At the time, lots of cars had this sticker on the back. The association no longer exists today. On the right-top: Subaru. Right-bottom: sports-4.
A fantastic little car. Sun flower stickers make it even better! A truly unknown icon of China’s automotive history. May some be left alive.
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