That’s a Zhongxing Admiral, a typical Chinese SUV of the early 2000s. It was painted in a vague shade of gray, with large bumpers, side bars, and shiny mirrors. It was still in use and it looked great for its years.
The Zhongxing Admiral was manufactured by a great Chinese company called Zhongxing Auto, also known as ZX Auto. The Admiral SUV was manufactured from 2000 until 2004.
The Admiral was one of those incredible SUVs of the early 2000s. It was large, with a body-on-frame chassis, softly sprung, developed for comfort on long journeys on the motorway, with large windows, and super cool looks. China has had many automotive booms, small and large. The early 2000s saw such a boom, with super-cheap SUVs and minicars, manufactured by all sorts of new car makers, a bit like we see today with electric vehicles in China.
When I arrived in China in 2003, I immediately started to look for a car. The very first car dealer I visited was a small shop of Zhongxing Auto in Tongzhou District, by that time in the far-far east of Beijing. Now, it is basically in the center of town.
I tried a bright red Admiral, and I remember being so surprised because it had small DVD video screens in the headrests for the second row. Back in Europe, that was like ultimate luxury, but in China, in 2003, it was standard on a 100.000 yuan SUV! In the end, I went for a second-hand Beijing-Jeep Cherokee XJ.
The interior looked like it hadn’t been cleaned for a while. The seats and the plastics were covered with a thick layer of dust and other dirt. The owner added seat covers and a steering wheel cover. Happily, the sound system is the original, with a CD player and a cassette player.
Got to love that knob! In the late 1990s and 2000s, these knobs were everywhere, in taxis and in private cars, in trucks too. But accidents happened and the Beijing municipal government cracked down pretty hard on these things, so in the late 2000s the knobs were gone.
The Admiral was powered by a 2.2 liter Toyota-sourced locally-made 491Q-ME petrol engine. The ties with Toyota went deep; the Admiral’s platform was based on the platform of the sixth-generation Toyota Hilux. Zhongxing Auto got the platform under a licensing deal with Toyota Motors. The 2.2 had an output of 102hp and 193nm, it was mated to a five-speed manual ‘box. The top speed was 130 km/h and 0-100 was gone in 11 seconds.
The full designation was on the car, as it was obligatory by law at the time. The designation of this variant of the Zhongxing Admiral SUV was BQ472Y2A.
Character time: 中兴汽车, Zhōngxìng Qìchē, Zhongxing Auto.
What a great car the Zhongxing Admiral SUV was! I often wonder if my life would have turned out any differently if I had bought the Admiral instead of the Cherokee XJ. Can’t say for sure, but I certainly would have been very happy with a Zhongxing Admiral.