The Hongqi CA770 is China’s most iconic classic car. I met this beautiful unrestored example at a local car show in Beijing in 2010. The enormous Chinese state limousine was in perfect shape. Painted in black, of course, with all the chrome bits in place, two flag poles, and the original white wall tires and shiny wheel covers.
Hongqi (红旗) means Red Flag, for the red flag of China and the red color of communism. The CA770 has a pretty red flag hood ornament. The frame is made from metal. The red ‘flag’ is made of hard plastic. The tip of the flag pole is very sharp.
The mirror is a nice little work of art. It is supported by a single stalk fitted on the door. The stalk’s end is just as sharp as the flagpole on the hood.
The three red flags on the fender stand for Socialist Construction, Great Leap Forward, and Peoples Commune, the three main government programs at the time. The frames of the flags are made out of metal again, and the flags themselves are plastic.
The Hongqi CA770 arrived in 1966 and production continued all the way until 1981. The total production number stands at 847 cars, excluding bullet-proof variants and inspection cars. It is a giant car: 5980/1990/1640, with a 3720 wheelbase.
The chrome strips around the windows are about 1.5 centimeters wide. The CA770 has suicide rear doors.
The shape of the rear lights is inspired by classic Chinese lanterns. The entire rear compartment has privacy curtains so that the occupants can discuss grave matters of state in peace. Note the Hongqi CA773 in the background. I will add a story on that car later on.
The badge on the back with the brand name in characters and in Latin script.
Suddenly there was commotion! The hood was opened and folks rushed to the front of the CA770 to have a look. This was a rare opportunity, so I went there too.
The gentleman in the white T-shirt was the owner. He wasn’t really sure why I was so interested in his car. At the time, foreigners rarely showed much interest in classic Chinese cars. I explained a bit about my websites and he was cool with that. The engine compartment looked as original as the entire vehicle, unrestored and with decades-old dust.
Under the hood was a 5.65 liter V8 four-stroke carburetor gasoline engine with an output of 223 hp kW and 380 Nm. The top speed was 165 kilometers per hour and fuel consumption was a steep 20 liters per 100 kilometers. The early cars had a 2-speed gearbox, which was later replaced with 4-speed and 5-speed boxes.
The type plate! I don’t get to see those very often. There is a lot going on. I’ll try to break it down.
First line: 红旗牌高级轿车: Hongqi brand high-end sedan. Second line: 型号CA770乘: Type number CA770 ride. Then we get the number of passengers, rated at 7-8. That is 7 passengers and one driver, hence 7-8. Finally, another factory number: 0279. The third line shows the curb weight of 2730 kg, the gross weight of 3290 kg, and the year and month of manufacturing: 1973/10.
The fourth line is the full factory name: 第一汽车制造厂 · 长春. First Auto Works · Changchun. First Auto Works (FAW) is the owner of the Hongqi brand. Changchun is the hometown of FAW and Hongqi, and the capital of Jilin Province. The last line says 中华人民共和国, People’s Republic of China.
The Hongqi CA770 had 8 seats in a 3/2/3 configuration. The middle two were jump seats for aides. These cars were basically handmade and fit and finish was, let’s say it mildly, apparently not always a priority. The materials were a mix of cloth, wood, and metal. There was a red carpet on the floor. The seats were covered with a seat cover to protect the original cloth, but they looked as old as the rest of the car, so the covers weren’t a recent addition.
The dashboard was largely made of dark wood. The steering wheel was made of black plastic with a metal rim inside that controlled the horn. The round air vents may look like metal but they are actually made of a cheap kind of plastic.
The rear bench was only for statesmen! Note the material of the armrests on the side of the bench. That is the original cloth. But again, the seat cover looks properly antique. The armrest in the middle is down, creating two lounge-like captain seats.
The two-spoke steering wheel with the Golden Sunflower logo in the middle. The gear lever is mounted on the steering wheel column. The speedometer tops out at 200 km/h.
Hongqi used this logo on most of its top-end state limousines in the 1970s and 1980s. The logo then disappeared, but it recently made a comeback.
The kilometer counter with black numbers on a white background. The number on the far left was in red!
The beautiful badge is a depiction of Tiananmen, with 30 red flags in front of it. Must have been a lot of work to machine this. Another work of automotive decoration art.
The original radio cassette unit. A rarity too. In many CA770s the unit is either gone or replaced by something modern. The brand is Peck Power and the type is JM-700. It has a cassette player and a radio with AM and FM.
The controls for the blower are pretty too, with machined sliders in a metal frame.
The CA770 was sometimes a surprisingly basic vehicle. It didn’t have electric windows, not even in the back.
The carpet’s color matched nicely with the three-flag ornament on the fender. The Chinese flags on the poles had a lighter red color. The owner added them just for the show. Normally, a state limousine carries one Chinese flag when it is used to transport a Chinese statesman-passenger. When it carries a foreign visitor, it usually carries two flags: the Chinese and the flag of the visitor’s country.
The Hongqi CA770 has always been my favorite Chinese car, and really the first classic Chinese car I really knew about. First love never dies. Over my many years in China, I have seen dozens of these brilliant stately machines. I will show of all them on this website, but that might take me a while.