In 2014, I visited two second-hand supercar shops along Wuzhong Road in Shanghai. This road is home to many car-related businesses, and one of the shops I visited is still around today. The shops sold all sorts of very expensive supercars.
The first car that I saw was an open-top Lamborghini. It looked like a Murcielago SV from the outside, but there was a problem: Lamborghini only made the SV coupe, they never made an SV Roadster.
So what was this car? It was an LP640-4 Roadster fitted with an SV conversion kit. Several companies offered this sort of work. They did a good job. The exterior looked really badass but the interior was standard LP640-4. To be fair to the shop; they did indeed offer it as a 640.
It had a black interior with a Mastermind Japan floor mat on the passenger side. Mastermind Japan was a popular clothing brand in China in the 2010s, they sold clothes with the skull and bones theme. There were Mastermind Japan car stickers, all sorts of badges, and, like in this Lamboo, floor mats.
Massive wing on the back. Lots of carbon. Big black wheels. A great-looking Lamboo, just not a real one. The Lamborghini Murcielago LP640-4 Roadster was manufactured from 2006 until 2010. Power came from a 6.5 liter V12 engine with an output of 640hp and 660Nm. The top speed was 336km/h and 0-100 was gone in 3.1 seconds. The Lamborghini Murcielago was officially sold in China. Price in 2010 started at 4.38 million yuan. For more old-school Lamborghini supercars, please check my story about my visit to a Lamborghini dealer in Beijing in 2010.
Aston Martin Virage Coupe
Next up was an Aston Martin Virage Coupe in baby blue. This color was very popular in China in the 2000s. Some car makers were offering baby blue, especially for the Chinese market, and many shops sold baby blue wraps. Baby blue looked great on the Aston Martin Virage, especially in combination with a white interior, shiny exhaust pipes, and matte gray alloy wheels.
The Virage is a rear car. It was produced for only two years, in 2011 and 2012. It was positioned between the DB9 and the DBS, but the market didn’t see the point of another Aston Martin similar to the rest. Only about 1000 examples were produced in Coupe and Volante forms, and quite a few of those ended up in China.
Under the hood is a 6.0 liter V12 engine with an output of 496 hp and 570 Nm. The top speed was 299 kilometers per hour. Not 300. Nope, only 299. One may wonder why Aston didn’t tune up the engine just a little bit more to get to the magic 300. Odd, how very odd. The gearbox was a six-speed AMT with flappy pedals. The Aston Martin Virage Coupe was hugely expensive in China, with a base price of 4.3 million yuan.
Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro
Next up is a 2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro, with a Hummer H2 in the background. It looked great in Audi’s signature silver, with slightly darkened windows and gray wheels. The Audi R8 sold pretty well in China in those days, but most of them had the V8 engine.
This one had the 5.2 liter V10. This big motor is always a cool sight, it lies in full sight under the rear window. The output of the engine was 525 hp and 530 Nm. The gearbox was a 6-speed AMT with flappy pedals, sending power to all four wheels. The top speed was 316 kilometers per hour and 0-100 was gone in 3.9 seconds. The fuel consumption, however, was steep. The official number in China was… 14.9 liters per 100 kilometers. The price when new was 2.32 million yuan.
Rolls-Royce Phantom Series I EWB
There is nothing like a big Rolls-Royce. These machines are so massive when you stand next to one. Everything is huge about a Rolls-Royce Phantom, the wheels, the grille, the endless hood. This one here is a long-wheelbase Phantom Series I EWB, manufactured from 2005 until 2012. The Series I was quite popular among China’s newly rich. Rolls-Royce produced several special editions for the Chinese market.
The car in the shop was painted in dark green, with gold striping and a gold hood ornament. The interior was red, dark red leather. What a fine combination of colors, isn’t it? I also really like the chromed frames of the rear lights. The motor of this German-British limousine is a 6.7 liter V12 with an output of 453 hp and 720 Nm. The top speed is 240 kilometers per hour. Fuel consumption is steep again, with 15.7 liters per 100 kilometers. The price of the EWB version in 2012 was 7.9 million yuan. As I said, everything is big about a Rolls-Royce.
McLaren 12C
This is a McLaren 12C in white with black wheels and Zhejiang license plates. The McLaren brand immediately became popular in China after its launch, Chinese consumers didn’t care that much about the perceived lack of heritage that bothered McLaren in the western markets.
The McLaren 12C was launched on the Chinese supercar market in 2012, so it was never called ‘MP4-12C‘ in China. Perhaps for the better, as 4 is an unlucky number in Chinese culture. The 12C had a 3.8 turbocharged V8 engine in the middle, with an output of 600 hp and 601 Nm. The top speed was 330 km/h and 0-100 was gone in 3.3 seconds. When new (2012), it sold for 3.38 million. The high price didn’t matter much. In Beijing, where I lived, there were so many of these on the road at the time that I didn’t even bother to take photos of ‘m anymore.
Aston Martin Vantage Sportshift Coupe
An Aston Martin Vantage Sportshift Coupe with a cool Shanghai ‘沪A‘ license plate. The blue 沪A plates were issued to the very first batches of privately registered cars in Shanghai, as opposed to cars registered to companies or the government. Most blue 沪A plates were issued in the early 1990s. When one of those cars was subsequently crushed or otherwise taken off the streets the plates became available again.
In the 2000s, blue 沪A license plates became status symbols among the newly wealthy, as they believed the early plates equaled early money. What happened next was that these wealthy folks would buy genuine cars with a blue 沪A license plate, ship them off to the crusher, and put the plates on a newer and more expensive car. This is how the 沪A·565U7 ended up on this Aston Martin.
Aston Martin was a relatively early entrant to the Chinese market. The brand started selling the Vantage in 2007. By 2012, they also sold the Roadster and various special editions. The car in the shop looked great in this light beige color with matte gray alloy wheels and a white interior. The Sportshift Coupe model was powered by a 4.7-liter V8 engine with an output of 426 hp and 470 Nm. As the name implies, the transmission was a 6-speed AMT with flappy paddles. The top speed was 290 km/h and it did 0-100 in 4.9 seconds. The price in 2011 was 2.39 million.
Nissan GT-R
The Nissan GT-R was another super popular supercar, more popular even than the McLaren. There were GT-R clubs, an active GT-R tuning scene, GT-R races, and more. I have seen examples in action on racetracks with claimed outputs of over 1000 hp.
The car in the shop was a beautiful unmodified example, with dark-gray alloy wheels. Sales of the Nissan GT-R in China started in 2009. Sales were discontinued in 2017 when new emission regulations made it impossible to continue selling the GT-R. Around this time, Toyota also canceled sales of the GT86/86 for the same reason. The rules were the same for everyone, but imports by Japanese car makers were hit the hardest. The GT-R in the photos is a 2013 model, powered by a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6. Output was 540 hp and 628 Nm. The transmission was a 6-speed DCT, AWD. The Nissan GT-R was incredibly fast, even in standard specification. The top speed was 315 km/h and 0-100 took only 3.63 seconds. That’s 3.63, not 3.6. With so much power and speed, it was surprisingly affordable, with a base price of 1.5 million yuan.
Porsche 911 Turbo with TechArt Aerodynamic Kit II
This was probably the coolest car in the shop: a 997 (facelift) Porsche 911 Turbo, fitted with a TechArt Aero Kit II. This body kit was launched in 2010, it included a front spoiler, side skirts, 5-spoke TechArt alloy wheels, and a big wing on the back.
The interior was sexed-up as well, with trim in body color and extra light racing seats. TechArt didn’t change the engine, but they didn’t really need to. The 997 911 Turbo was powered by a 3.8-liter turbocharged flat-six with an output of 500 hp and 650 Nm, good for a top speed of 312 km/h and a 0-100 in 3.7 seconds. The motor was mated to a 7-speed DCT, all-wheel drive.
TechArt sold these cars directly to consumers in China, they were imported with the body kit fitted on. Due to complex Chinese laws, registering a car for the road with post-production modifications was often impossible. So tuning companies like TechArt imported these cars as new, using a loophole in the law, which has since been fixed.
Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG sedan
A Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG sedan. These were popular too in the period, much more so than the larger AMG cars. The C63 AMG was a perfect match for China and helped the country to become the largest market for AMG worldwide.
Four pipes! This was the good old AMG time. The engine was a massive 6.3-liter naturally aspirated V8 with 457 hp and 600 Nm, the motor was mated to a 7-speed AMT. The top speed was limited to 250 km/h and 0-100 took 4.5 seconds. The car that I saw is a 2010 model, which sold for 1.12 million yuan when new.
Other Stuff
A super pretty all-white 997 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet, with white multispoke alloy wheels and a black interior.
A blue Porsche 991 911 Carrera 4S, with matte gray wheels and a gray interior.
A white Maserati GranTurismo, with another coveted 沪A license plate.
An everyday street view in Shanghai, well, at least in that area. On the left is a Ferrari California, and on the right is a Ferrari F430 Spider.
The Ferrari F430 Spider looked great in Grigio Silverstone (I have a new thing for color names, have to look ‘m up, can’t help it), with a black convertible roof, gray alloys, and a dark gray interior. Power: 4.3-liter V8 with 490 hp and 465 Nm, with a six-speed AMT. The top speed was 315 km/h and 0-100 tok 4 seconds flat.
And those were the supercars that I saw in Shanghai in 2014. More speedy supercars from China soon!