Here we have a Great Wall Voleex C50, seen in Beijing in the summer of 2018, license plate are of Hebei province. The Voleex C50 was a compact sedan manufactured by Great Wall Motors from 2012 until 2016 with a facelift in 2014. Our black car is an original pre-facelift example.
In that period, Great Wall Motors (GWM) used different nameplates for their various series. Pickup trucks were sold under the Wingle name, SUVs under the Haval name, and sedans and hatchbacks under the Voleex name. Wingle and Haval survive until today, Voleex died in 2018. Voleex made three cars: the Voleex C10 hatchback, the C30 sedan, and the C50 sedan. They also showed a semi-concept of a larger C70 sedan, but that car never made it to production.
I met this C50 in an industrial are in northeast Beijing. There was a car inspection place nearby, so one could always fine some interesting vehicles parked around.
The interior looked luxurious for the segment, with nice fake-leather sears and some shiny bits of trim. The owner added a thick steering wheel cover and seat covers. The place is well preserved for its age!
Like so many Chinese cars of the day, the Voleex C50 was equipped with a DVD player. Folks could watch it while driving, and it also played VCDs and music CDs. Note the GWM stam below the screen.
The whole back bench was covered with a bench cover, and of course there is a tissue box. The Voleex C50 was a reasonable large car: 4650/1775/1455. with a 2700 millimeter wheelbase.
The mud flaps are an after-market addition too, they fit nicely on the car. Light units are huge, which was the trend back then. The boot lid has a subtle integrated spoiler for a bit of extra sportiness.
The Chinese name of Volees was 腾翼 (Téngyì). The C50’s only engine option was a 1.5 turbo, hence the red T behind the name. That too was a trend of the time. Lots of Chinese car makers used red lettering on their badging on turbocharged cars.
The Great Wall logo depicted a watch tower on the, guess… Great Wall of China. The 1.5 turbo had an output of 133 hp and 188 Nm, good for a 185 km/h top speed and a 0-100 in 9.7 seconds. That was fast for the segment. Power went to the front wheels via a 5-speed manual gearbox.
Price in 2012 started at just 78.800 yuan, which was a very good deal for the amount of car you got. The C50 is quite rare in Beijing but it sold pretty well in smaller second- and third tier cities.