A Jinma ‘classic wedding car’, seen in 2016 by our good friend James in Sanya, the main beach city on sunny Hainan Island. The pretty Jinma was in a reasonable shape for its age, painted in white with shiny gold trim and a Chinese flag on a pole on the bumper.
Anyway the days of wild Sanya have gone, the club was closed down in 2011 and I hadn’t give it much thought. Then on the weekend [in 2016] I found this car, still with the logos on stashed at the back of a friend’s apartment building. I asked if it is still in use and he said yes, a Chinese dude uses it as his prime mode of daily transport! Apparently still telling people they can hire it out for special celebrations, not that anyone would want too judging by the state its in. Ok well for any old school Hainan expat, Sky Bar and this car will have a fond place in their memory.”
Brilliant stuff and thanks a lot to James! I don’t think it looks so bad from the outside, really. All the gold stuff is still on the car, like the fender lights, the hood hinges, and the well-crafted mirrors. The convertible roof is white as well and seems to be okay, but it could be a newer example.
Jinma means Golden Horse, hence the golden horse hood ornament on the grille. In front of the grille four classic horns.
Jinma was a brand based in Shandong Province. I love them, and wrote up their entire history so it will be remembered! They also made a bunch of faux Rolls-Royces. This sort of vehicles were meant for celebrations, mainly weddings, where the happy couple would parade around the village. They were also used by hotels to ferry guest to the train station, for sightseeing, and by restaurants and bars for all sorts of drunken silliness.
The interior was all right. Exposed to the elements. Fortunately Sanya is warm The gear lever, handbrake, and dashboard are all original. The steering wheel is made of real wood!
The Jinma wedding car was based on a Great Wall pickup truck chassis and powered by a 2.2 liter 491QE Great Wall engine. There were two versions: a short-wheelbase 4-person car designated QJM5022XY and a long-wheelbase 6-person car designated QJM5022XL. The white car we got here is the short-wheelbase version. The long-wheelbase car was, indeed, much longer.
Enough space for a party. Note the classy door handles and the big round speakers.
View from the backseat. That is an impressive bonnet, with the Golden Horse at the end. Plastic Chinese lanterns are a nice touch.
Oddly, the rear lights were the same as the ones fitted on the classic Hongqi CA770. Perhaps they got ‘m at the same supplier. The spare wheel on the rear is real.
A brilliant car representing a brilliantly wild time in Hainan. Yup, the wild days are truly gone. Not only in Hainan, but sadly almost everywhere in China ): Note the line of air conditioners on the building’s wall. Hainan may not be wild anymore, but, or so it appears, it’s still hot. Happily ever after.