A Stately Hongqi CA770 At The Beijing Classic Car Museum

A beautiful black Hongqi CA770 state limousine, seen in 2013 in front of the Beijing Classic Car Museum in Huairou District to the far north of the capital. The CA770 was in a great unrestored and original state, complete with flag poles on the bumper.

I’ve always loved the design of the headlight frame, with ‘vents’ on the sides and atop. Round fog lights are original, indicating this is an early car. Later cars got square-shaped fog lights.

Hongqi, or Red Flag, is a brand under First Auto Works (FAW). The Hongqi CA770 was manufactured exclusively for the Chinese government. The giant state limousine arrived in 1966 and production continued all the way until 1981. Total production stands at 847 cars.

Today most CA770 limousines are in private hands. This particular example has been in private hands for a long time, as we can see from its blue 京A license plates. These are not the same as black 京A license plates. The blue ones were issued to the very first batches of privately registered cars in Beijing, as opposed to cars registered to companies or the government. Most blue 京A plates were issued in the early 1990’s. Like with the black plates, numbering started at 0001.

The 京A·M3725 was used by the museum to ferry VIP’s back and forth to Beijing City, and it had participated in classic car evens throughout China. However, I am not sure where the car is now. The last time I visited the museum, in the summer of 2019, I didn’t see it around.

The three red flags stand for: Socialist Construction, Great Leap Forward, and Peoples Commune, the three main government programs at the time. The badge is a work of art. The frames of the flags are made out of metal again, and the flags themselves out of hard red plastic.

The interior was well-preserved. There is a 3-seat bench in front, the cloth of the seats is original, with matching trim on the doors. The dash of this car is made entirely out of wood. The steering wheel is huge and thin, the chromed rim in the middle controls the horn.

The logo is missing from the steering wheel, but otherwise the dashboard is in a perfect shape. The shifter is mounted on the steering wheel column. The controller for the heating is very basic for such a large luxurious car.

Note the long-wheelbase Audi-based Hongqi in the background.

Power of the CA770 came from a 5.65 liter four-stroke water-cooled  carbureted V8 engine. Output was 223 hp (164 kW). This power gave the CA770 a top speed of 165 km/h and a fuel consumption of 20 liters per 100 kilometers.  The motor was mated to a 2-speed transmission. The CA770 is a giant car: 5980/1990/1640, with a 3720 and wheelbase is 3720. Curb weight is a super heavy 4930 kilo.

The curtains in the passenger compartment looked very original too, like they were never ever washed. The great Hongqi is in need of some maintenance. The chrome is starting to rust and the paint is slowly fading away. A thorough clean up would be a good start!

The Hongqi (红旗) badge on the back, in ‘handwritten’ Chinese characters.