A Ssangyong Chairman W CW700L limousine, seen on a car market in east Beijing in 2017. The good Chairman was in a reasonable shape but clearly in need of a little love. Note the bricks at fore and aft the front wheel, perhaps the handbrake wasn’t working…?
The pretty hood ornament, which was exclusive for the Chairman.
The Ssangyong Chairman W CW700L was the long-wheelbase variant of the Ssangyong Chairman W CW700. The Chairman W CW700 was a variant of the Chairman W. The Chairman W was the second-generation Ssangyong Chairman, made from 2008 until 2017.
The CW700 variant was powered by a 3.6 liter inline-six petrol engine that was originally sourced from Mercedes-Benz for the first-generation Chairman. Ssangyong had been updating the engine ever since, and in the CW700 it delivered 250hp and 343nm. Gearbox was a seven-speed manual, sending horses to the rear wheels.
Another Chairman emblem, this one on the B-pillar. The L was 5.410 meters long, 30 centimeters longer than the standard CW700.
The Chairman CW700L was equipped with lots of luxury. It had leather seats and real wood panels. It was equipped with a dual-zone air conditioning system, a seat-massage system, a 6-disc DVD player with an 8-inch display, and a Harman Kardon 7.1 stereo system. Sadly, the windows of the rear compartment were professionally darkened for privacy so I couldn’t take a picture.
The Chairman limousine was officially sold in China. It was launched on the Chinese car market in 2012 and I actually saw it on that year’s Beijing Auto Show. Happily, there I managed to get a better shot at the rear compartment!
Price started at a very steep 698.000 yuan, and that meant it competed directly with the high-end versions if the Audi A8, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and BMW 7-Series. No wonder then, that these majestic Korean limousines are pretty rare in China, over the years I have only seen a few. Sales in China ended in 2015, after only four years on the market.
Q plates are for company-owned cars, this one with a rare triple-7 combination..
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