About China's Coolest Cars
A flashy Suzuki Alto Happy Prince, seen in central Beijing in 2003. The good Suzuki was slightly modified with a new bonnet, red painted wheels, red mirrors, red light units, a new grille, fake shark fin antennas on the roof, and most of all a load of stickers.
Continue reading “Suzuki Alto Happy Prince Is Slightly Modified In China”
I have always loved fuzzy factory decals on all sorts of vehicles in China. The best such decals can be found on electric scooters, especially on scooters made in until 2015 or so. Today, somewhat sadly, most Chinese scooter makers have vastly improved their branding efforts. This red Sunra scooter I found in Beijing is fantastically old school decal-wise. It comes with a wild ‘Racing Fast and Furious’ decal on the rear fender.
Continue reading “Sunra Electric Scooter Is Fast And Furious In China”
A red Volkswagen Polo sedan, seen parked at a charging station in Beijing in 2017. Well, Volkswagen still doesn’t make an electric Polo even today, so we can be sure our red car is in the wrong lot. Happily, it was in a reasonable shape for its years. Paint was fading a bit, some damage here and there, and the original wheel covers were gone. But that’s okay, as black steelies always look great on red cars.
Continue reading “Mk4 Volkswagen Polo Is A Rare Sedan In China”
Welcome to Black License Plate Mania In Beijing Part 2 (Part 1 here), where we look at cars with black license plates in the Chinese capital. Also see this tag for more detailed reviews of other black-plated vehicles. On the first picture a Shanghai-GM Buick Lacrosse with 京A·31029.
Continue reading “Black License Plate Mania In Beijing Part 3”
An enormous Hummer H2 SUV, owned by Beijing SWAT, seen in Beijing in 2012. It has white police license place and SWAT livery. The H2 looked totally badass with a giant bull bar, side bars, and a light bar and a police light bar on the roof.
Continue reading “A Big Bad American Beijing SWAT Hummer H2”
A white Great Wall Hover Limousine, seen on the road near Bedaihe in Hebei province, with a flagpole on the front fender. The big limo has yellow commercial-vehicle license plates from Liaoning province.
Continue reading “Great Wall Hover Limousine On The Road In China”
Here we have a Geely Meirenbao sporty car, seen in Beijing in 2015. It was totally original bar for strips on the front bumper. It is rare to se these cars without lots ugly of modifications.
Continue reading “Facelifted Geely Meirenbao, Better Than The Original?”
An ultra rare Beijing Jeep BJ2022JL prototype, seen in Shanghai in 2014 by Antoine Chalendard. The BJ2022JL was one of the many proposals for a successor to the BAW BJ212 army utility vehicle.
The BJ2022JL was designed and developed by the Beijing-Jeep joint venture in 1999, and powered by a 3.2-liter turbo diesel. There was also a five-door version, called the BJ2022JG. In the end, the army decided to go for a bigger vehicle and went for another Beijing Jeep proposal: the BJ2022 Brave Warrior, powered by the same engine. Production
The production contract for the Brave Warrior went to BAW, and it was sold under the Beijing-brand. Over the years, BAW launched dozens of military and civilian variants, and the Brave Warrior is still in production today.
The Brave Warrior was eventually manufactured by BAW under the Beijing brand, it was available in dozens of military and civilian variants.
An advertisement for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, seen in a residential compound in Beijing in 2009, showing a brown example with sporty five-spoke alloys. It is always interesting to see carmakers advertise their most expensive offerings in such a way, even in a luxury-crazy market like China. Mercedes-Benz started selling the W221 S-Class in China in 2006, initially only in S300 trim. Later on, they added the S350, S500, and S600 to the lineup. Price of the base S-Class in 2009 started at 9.93 million yuan.
A Mercedes-Benz C-Class L sedan, seen in Beijing in 2017. The Merc’ is wrapped in a matte black wrap and further Benze’d up with darkened windows and a set of sweet sporty wheels. The wrap appears to be of a medium quality but it has been professionally applied over the mirrors and door handles, something many wrappers ‘forget’ to do. The best thing, however, is the ultra-cool 京N·S3333 license plate. That’s four threes!
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class L is the long-wheelbase C sedan for the Chinese auto market. It is manufactured by the Beijing-Benz joint venture.
