Welcome to Black License Plate Mania In Beijing Part 5 (Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4), where we look at cars with black license plates in the Chinese capital. Also see this tag for more detailed reviews of other black-plated vehicles. On the first picture a very early W140 Mercedes-Benz S-Class with 京A·06734.
Black license plates were issued to foreign owned companies from the 1980’s to the mid 00’s. These companies could buy a car locally, or import one. There were no limits on the number of cars, or on price, or engine type.
The numbering started at 京A·00001, and then up. So the lower the number the older the car. Any black plate beginning with 京A·0 or 京A·1 is considered ultra rare. I know, I had one too!
In the old days black-plated cars had some privileges comparable to diplomatic cars; no police officer would dare to stop them and they could basically park wherever they wanted without fear of a fine. Nowadays, a black-plated car is counted just like all the others. The government does not issue new black plates anymore but those who have one can keep it until eternity.
A Beijing-Jeep Cherokee XJ with 京A·09796. The extra wide bumper was an after-market extra.
A Porsche Cayenne with with 京A·38892.
Dongfeng Nissan Sylphy Bluebird with 京A·36760.
A SouEast Soveran Golden with 京A·25825.
A Suzuki Jimny with 京A·52762.
A Honda Accord with 京A·40108. This is the third fourth generation Accord with black plates. The others are 京A·03383 and 京A·07472.
A Beijing-Jeep Cherokee 2500 with 京A·23961.
A Mercedes-Benz S-Class with 京A·38582.
A Chrysler Sebring with 京A·40958.
A Honda Accord (import) with 京A·34429.
And finally a Buick GL8 with 京A·36022.
That’s it for part 5, more black plate cars soon in part 6!