A Chevrolet Corsica LT sedan, as seen in the Chinese capital Beijing back in 2016. The good Chevy was in reasonable shape and still in use. It was dusty but otherwise all right, painted in a classy shade of wine red.
The Chevrolet Corsica was manufactured from 1987 until 1996 and became the second-best-selling car in the United States in 1988. It was named after the French island of Corsica.
Interestingly, the Chevrolet Corsica was exported to China under a misty trade-for-trade-status agreement between the U.S. and Chinese governments. Part of the agreement was China’s purchase of many American automobiles, including the Corsica, the Ford Tempo, and the Plymouth Sundance. These cars weren’t directly sold to the public but allocated among state-owned companies and government agencies. Later on, many of these cars ended up on the private market.
The interior was a little messy. The owner added a set of seat covers to protect the original cloth seats, a Mao pendant hanging from the rearview mirror, and a stuffed Dalmatian dog.
A fine for illegal parking. The Corsica was indeed parked on a bicycle lane but in 2016 you rarely got a fine for that. It has changed a lot nowadays. Beijing’s one trillion traffic cameras register every offense, if, and that is a big if, the cameras actually work.
The wheel covers looked nice, almost as new, with the Chevrolet logo in the center.
The Chevrolet Corsica was available with many different engines over its production run. The smallest engine was a 2.0-liter four-cylinder and the largest engine was a 3.1 V6. The early cars came with a 3-speed auto or a 5-speed manual, later on, the 3-speeder was replaced by a 4-speed manual.
The LT was the base model of the Corsica range and was available with the 2.0 or a 2.2-liter four-cylinder. Output hovered around 120-125 hp, depending on production year.
The rear light design is super cool. The license plate area is too small for the wider Chinese plate. Nope, they didn’t bother to change that. All the US-import cars from the barter deal have US-spec license plate areas.
Blue 京A license plates are not the same as black 京A license plates. The blue ones were issued to the 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 1990s.
The mirror needs some repairs. Well, duct tape fixes everything! The Chevrolet Corsica was a small American sedan in China that reached the Chinese car market in a very special way. Not many are left on the road today, especially not in Beijing. Some more may have survived in the outer provinces.