About China's Coolest Cars
A pretty Tianma Fengchi KZ6490E SUV, seen in the great city of Jinan in Shandong Province in 2017. The Fengchi was in reasonable shape, getting a bit old, needing some love. But happily it was largely original, with the factory wheels and decals.
Continue reading “Tianma Fengchi KZ6490E Is A Cool Chinese SUV”
A wild Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet, seen in Guangzhou in China’s Guangdong Province. The sporty German convertible was fitted with an after-market body kit that looks both cheap and cool. The new body parts make the Porsche look so big and bloated that the wheels suddenly seem narrow and tiny. License plates are of Zhejiang Province.
Continue reading “Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Has A Body Kit In China”
A Toyota Camry sedan, seen in the far east of Beijing a couple of years ago. The good Camry was sadly in a pretty sad shape, with fading black paint and lots of cracks and dirt. Even the license plate has seen better times.
Continue reading “Toyota Camry XV30 Sedan Needs Some Love In China”
A pretty Renault Scenic, seen in Beijing in spring 2016. The cool French MPV was in une bonne forme for its age, painted in a light green shade of green and fitted with the sporty factory 5-spoke wheels.
A black Volkswagen Magotan sedan, seen near Volkswagen’s former China headquarters in Sanlitun District in Beijing. The Magotan is a China-only sedan produced over several generations since 2007. The Magotan in the photo is a first-generation car, which was based on the Volkswagen Passat B6.
Continue reading “Volkswagen Magotan 2.0 TSI On Black Plates In China”
A Guangzhou-Honda Odyssey MPV, seen in Beijing in 2016, with Liaoning Province license plates. The good Honda was in a great shape, painted in a classy dark green, with the original wheel covers still on the car.
Continue reading “Second Generation Guangzhou-Honda Odyssey Is A Rare Japanese MPV In China”
Back in April I wrote about a 4th generation Honda Accord sedan with black 京A·03383 license plates. When digging through my archives I found another and very similar car, with 京A·07472 black license plates.
Continue reading “Fourth Generation Honda Accord Sedan In China With Black Plates – 2”
An almost sinister BMW Z4 sDrive35i, seen in Beijing in 2016. The speedy Bimmer is painted in a very dark shade of black, and further darkened by dark light visors, dark windows, and dark wheels.
Continue reading “BMW Z4 sDrive35i Is Black With An Unlucky License Plate”
A Mercedes-Benz GL63 AMG, seen in Beijing in 2016. The monster SUV has a very special license plate: 京L·92222. This sort of sequences are very rare in China and those who have ‘m do everything to keep ‘m.
Happily, these days license plates numbers are attached to persons and not to cars anymore. So even if the owner sells this Benz, he still keeps the plate and can use it on another car. But why sell? The GL63 AMG is brilliant. Power comes from a twin-turbocharged 5.5 liter V8 engine with an output of 558 hp and 760 Nm. The engine works with a 7-speed automatic, sending horses to all wheels. It seats seven and has a 2500 kilo curb weight, yet in sprints from 0-100 in 4.9 seconds.
Somewhat badly, the Mercedes-Benz GL63 AMG drinks 13 liters per 100 kilometers and that makes it an expensive drive, even in China, where petrol prices are reasonable. The high weight and big engine = high taxes, adding up to a crazy purchase price of 1.98 million yuan in 2014. It is therefore pretty rare in China, and there is only one with 京L·92222.
It is always hard to know how to look at the SsangYong Actyon; is it just plain ugly, or refreshingly different? I haven’t figured that out yet so for now I prefer to call it interesting. It sure is, from every side. The front lights give it an angry look, flanking a forward leaning grille. I found this very clean example in Beijing in 2016, looking almost as new.
Continue reading “SsangYong Actyon Is An Interesting South Korean SUV In China”
