A pretty white Volkswagen Santana 2000 GSI sedan, seen in the north of the Chinese capital Beijing in November 2017. The good Volkswagen was painted in a classy shade of white with slightly darkened windows. Even in 2017, the Santana 2000 was fast becoming a rare car. This one was in need of some love but in a great overall shape.
The Volkswagen Santana 2000 was manufactured from 1995 until 2003. It was based on the Brazilian Santana (Volkswagen do Brasil) but it had a longer wheelbase for more space in the back. The Santana 2000 was made in China by the Shanghai-Volkswagen joint venture. The 1.8 GSi was a sporty variant of the Santana 2000 with cool seven-spoke wheels, bumpers in body color, and a spoiler on the boot lid.
This white car is a late example. Those are best recognizable by the Chinese font of the 上海大众 badge (Shànghǎi Dàzhòng – Shanghai Volkswagen). Early Santana 2000’s had a ‘handwritten’ font. Later cars had a more digital-style font. Compare this white car to an earlier black example.
The interior was in a reasonable shape. The seat covers and radio unit are after-market. The steering wheel seems so large compared to today’s steering wheels! The buttons for the power windows are located on the center tunnel in front of the gear lever.
The 2000 1.8 GSi was powered by a 1.8 liter petrol engine with 99 hp and 155 Nm, mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. Price always hovered around the 160.000 yuan mark, some years a bit more, some years a bit less.
The Santana 2000 was a large and spacious car, with lots of room for the legs in the back. Size: 4600/1700/1423, and wheelbase was 2656. It was very popular with taxi drivers, but they usually drove one of the many special taxi-models, not the high end GSI.
Another badge-related difference of high importance: early cars had GSi, with a capital G and S and a standard i. Later cars had GSI in full capitals, with a red I.
A closer look at the spoiler, with a light unit that doubles as the third-brake light. License plate is as old as the car. Color has faded away a bit. In Beijing, car owners can actually order brand new license plates for just a small fee at the local government. Like 25 yuan or so, as far as I can remember. Not many people know about this so you often see cars with crapped out license plates. I heard about it for the first time after I’d lived in China for 12 years. When I told my Chinese car-friends, they often didn’t know about it either.
Sadly, due to the ever stricter emissions regulations, most of these Santana sedans have now disappeared from the streets of the Chinese capital Beijing. But go to smaller cities down countryside and you’ll still find plenty around.