Red cars are always better than other cars. So it proves again and again. Take this pretty Changhe Ideal for example, a cool Chinese mini car seen in Tai’an in Shandong Province in the summer of 2018. The Ideal had the ideal color, a dark shade of red, with darkened windows and the factory standard wheel covers.
Changhe is a small Chinese automaker, originally founded in 1970 and based in Jiangxi Province. They are best known for their troubled Changhe-Suzuki joint venture, which lasted from 1995 until 2018, albeit with with many ups and downs (not to be confused with Changan-Suzuki). Changhe has seen many changes of ownership in the last decade. BAIC is currently Change’s largest shareholder with a 70% stake.
The Change Ideal was a five door mini car. It was designed by none other than the Italian design studio Bertone. The Ideal debuted in 2004 and was made until 2016, with facelifts in 2006 and 2011. The car we have here is an early and totally original 2004-2006 pre-facelift example. The Chinese name was 爱迪尔 (Àidí’ěr). The car was in a remarkable good shape for its years. I didn’t see any rust or dust, paint was clean and fresh, and nothing was missing. Amazing for a car that was than at least 12 years old.
The interior was a time capsule too. The seats still got their original fabric, and they are not even covered with after-market seat covers! How did the owner do this..? Perhaps he never drove it? Even the plastics on the dash look fresh. And check the plastics around the gear lever. These commonly crack in older cars, but in this one the whole ensemble seems as new.
The interior had some wild design details, like the large round dials for the heating system, the round backdrop for the window crank handle, the super cool and original radio cassette player, and the line of five round buttons below the radio. Really, in 99.999999% of these cars the owner would have replaced the radio cassette player with an ugly after-market CD player. But the owner of this particular car didn’t do that! This Changhe Ideal really is museum material.
The 2004-2006 Changhe Ideal was available with two four-cylinder gasoline engines: a 1.0 with 46 hp and 72 Nm and a 1.1 with 52 hp and 83 Nm. Gearbox was a 5-speed manual, sending horses to the front wheels. Size of the car: 3560/1600/1670, with a 2335 wheelbase.
Bertone did a fine job with the Ideal. It certainly stood out in period, with a large rear window, tail lights high up on the D-pillar, and a beltline that kind of swoops up from the A-pillar to D. The fog lights are nicely integrated in the bumper. The darkened windows were not factory standard, not even optional I think, but they make for a great contract on this red Ideal.
Tiny exhaust pipe on the right, under the bumper.
Ideal in a stylish font, and 1.0 with the dot attached to the 1. That saved a bit of labor I guess.
Even the black antenna on the roof is period original. The owner should get a rich reward for keeping his Changhe Ideal in such a great shape. I hope it is still around somewhere, on the road or in a museum.