A very nice combination of cars seen in Guangzhou, capital of the Chinese province Guangdong. In the foreground a classic Wuling LZ100 minivan, followed by an early, and slightly modified, Chery QQ3.
The Wuling LZ100 was in a fine shape, a bit tired perhaps, but happily it still has the original ‘5-diamond’ Wuling badge and the original 3-spoke sporty wheels, at least at the front.
The Wuling LZ100 was powered by a 0.8 liter 3-cylinder petrol engine, based on an old Mitsubishi design. The motor was mated to a 4-speed manual gearbox. Today these older Wuling mini cars are a very rare thing to see. The further south and the further countryside more may be still alive.
Badge: Liuzhou Wuling (柳州五菱).
Liuzhou Automobile Industry Corporation, later Liuzhou Wuling Automobile, later Wuling Motors, was founded in 1982. In 1986 they agreed to a deal with Mitsubishi to produce and sell the Mitsubishi L100 Minicab in China. Until the early 2000’s, all Wuling mini cars were direct ascendants of this agreement.
Today, Wuling is best known for the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture, which makes cars under the Wuling and Baojun names. So after many shuffles there are right now three entities selling cars under the Wuling brand:
- the original Wuling Motor, making mostly minivans.
- the joint venture.
- Liuzhou Wuling, making LSEVs.
Moving on the Chery QQ, later renamed QQ3. Chery bought the blueprints for the Daewoo Matiz from Daewoo when it was near bankrupt. Daewoo was in turn sold to General Motors, which used the Matiz for their Chevrolet Spark, which was essentially the same car as the Chery QQ. The legality of the sale of the blueprints from Daewoo to Chery has long been debated, inside and outside of court.
The original Chery QQ debuted in 2003 and it has been an astounding success for Chery ever since. Production in China ended in 2012, but it is still made elsewhere. This particular example was modified with a two tone color scheme and matte light vizors. The blue paint is original and the owner added some black and yellow wrapping. He did a thorough job, just look at the brand and engine badges, neatly fronted in yellow. The 1.1 liter four-cylinder engine had an output of 68 hp and 90 Nm, mated to a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed automatic. Top speed was 130 km/h, but this example is likely a bit faster as it has a yellow fuel door!