A Lifan 520i hatchback, seen in Beijing in 2016. The Lifan was in fine shape, painted in fiery red with slightly tinted windows and sporty five-spoke wheels.
Lifan is a relatively small Chinese car brand, owned by Lifan Motor, which is owned by the Lifan Industry Group. Lifan was founded in 1992 and is based in Chongqing. Since 2021, the Geely Group is the largest shareholder in Lifan Motor.
The Lifan 520i is a five-door hatchback manufactured from 2006 until 2012. There was also a sedan, which was simply called the 520, without the ‘i’ at the end. Lifan cars have always been rather rare in Beijing but down in the southwest, you’d meet Lifans everywhere.
Back in those days, Lifan used a BMW-inspired font for their badging. The Lifan 520i was powered by a 1.3-liter four-cylinder petrol engine with an output of 88 hp and 110 Nm. The engine was mated to a five-speed manual gearbox sending horses to the front wheels. The top speed was 160 kilometers per hour. The Lifan 520 sedan was also available with a 94-hp 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine but the 520i hatchback only got the 1.3.
The interior was quite fine for the time, with a shipload of beige plastics. The owner added some kinky seat covers and an anti-air pollution filter apparatus atop the dashboard. The quality of these cars was so-so, to put it nicely, but they were cheap to run and easy to repair, which mattered most for most buyers at the time. It was cheap too. The base 520i model sold for only 43,900 RMB in 2012. That was a good deal for a five-seat hatchback with a 1.3 under the hood. The 520i wasn’t a small car: 4370/1700/1473, with a 2540 wheelbase.
In 2016, the Lifan 520i was already a rare sight in Beijing, and Lifan never sold many in the capital to begin with. Ever stricter emissions regulations send most of these great little cars to the scrapyard or to other provinces where the rules are not as strict.
520i in BMW script again. F1318 was a specification code. The car we have here is a base model. Also, note the enclosed fog light placeholders at the front. The high-end version had actual lights there.
Characters: 力帆, Lìfān.