About China's Coolest Cars
Here we have a Toyota Carina E sedan, seen on a car market in Beijing in 2014. The good Toyota was in a fine shape, albeit a bit dusty. It was painted in dark green with tinted windows, and on old black license plates. The Carina E was a compact sedan, positioned above the Toyota Corolla.
Continue reading “Toyota Carina E Is A Rare Japanese Sedan In China”
A beautiful BMW 850 CSi, seen in June 2015 in Lido area in Beijing. I first met her in 2012. At that time, it looked like a totally new car. And even in 2015, she looked factory fresh. The owner clearly put in a lot of time and money to keep this car alive.
Continue reading “BMW 850 CSI Is A Beautiful Black Coupe In China”
A streamlined Chrysler Intrepid sedan, seen in the summer of 2015 in Beijing, capital of China. The good Chrysler was is a great shape, painted in silver with tinted windows and fitted with sporty five-spoke alloy wheels. The Chrysler Intrepid was only sold in Canada. Elsewhere, it was known as the Dodge Intrepid.
Continue reading “Chrysler Intrepid Is Not A Dodge Intrepid In China”
A super rare super early FAW-Volkswagen Audi 100 sedan, seen in 2015 in the Wangjing District in the the Chinese capital Beijing. The good Audi was in a reasonable shape for its age; paint was a bit tired and there was some damage under the left light headlight.
Continue reading “A Very Early FAW-Volkswagen Audi 100 In China”
A rare Bentley Continental GT Coupe Design Series China, seen in central Beijing in 2014, parked neatly on the pavement. It was painted in a pretty kind of blue, matching nicely with mega shiny wheels and trim.
Continue reading “Bentley Continental GT Coupe Design Series China Is Cool In Beijing”
A BMW 120i 1-Series Convertible, seen in Beijing in 2017. The open-top Bimmer was dusty, as all cars are in the capital, but otherwise okay, although the top seemed a bit loose at the back. It was painted in beige with a black top and gray wheels. Must be one of the most unassuming BMW cabriolets ever.
The first generation E88 BMW 1-Series Convertible was made from 2007 until 2014. In China, it was sold only for two years, in 2011 and 2012, and only in 120i spec. It didn’t sell well. Common wisdom says open cars are simply not popular here due to the air pollution, noise, and a lack of open-driving tradition. This wisdom is totally true. Even now, with much cleaner air in Beijing than in 2013, this hasn’t really changed.
Many car makers tried to sell convertible cars in China anyway and all of them failed. Only exception was Peugeot, which managed to sell quite a few of their funky 207 CC and 206 CC open-toppers. The BMW 120i Convertible was powered by 2.0 four with 152 hp and 200 Nm. In China, the only gearbox option was a 6-speed automatic. Power went to the rear wheels and top speed was a pretty speedy 212 km/h. BMW asked 368.000 yuan for the tiny convertible, which was a large pile of cash.
A Brabus Mercedes-Benz G500 4×4², seen on Beijing Tuning Tribe tuning street, on the very same day I met a speedy Lamborghini. The crazy off-road ready SUV looked brilliant in yellow with and dark gray detailing.
Continue reading “Brabus Mercedes-Benz G500 4×4² Is A Crazy SUV In China”
A cool Changhe Beidouxing X5E EV268, seen on a car dealer area in north Beijing in late 2019. The X5E looked nice in white with blue trim in grille and lights, which is very common Chinese on electric cars.
The Changhe Beidouxing X5E is an electric panel van. It is based on the petrol powered Changhe Beidouxing X5, which, in turn, is based on the first generation Suzuki Wagon R.
Continue reading “The Changhe Beidouxing X5E EV268 Is An Electric Van Based On The Suzuki Wagon R”
A Volkswagen Jetta taxi was seen in the Sanlitun embassy area in Beijing back in 2013. It was a hot summer day in July so the Beijing taxi driver took a well-deserved rest. He was having a sleep with the driver seat down and his yellow shirt hanging down from the ceiling of the vehicle.
These yellow shirts are a thing. They became obligatory by law in 2007 in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Beijing taxi drivers, a notoriously grumpy bunch, didn’t like the shirts at all, but the Beijing government made clear that no shirt was no ride, so in the end early all taxi drivers complied.
Seeing a taxi driver having a nap like this was perfectly normal in times then. On any hot summer’s day you could find exhausted Beijing taxi drivers, riding for 12+ hours a day, taking a rest on any shaded street. The Volkswagen Jetta taxi offers enough space for a comfortable nap.
The FAW-Volkswagen Jetta used to be one of the most popular taxi’s in Beijing in the 2000’s and early 2010’s. Nowadays, most have been replaced by taxi’s made by the local Beijing-Hyundai joint venture.
Here we have a Daewoo Espero sedan, seen in the Dongzhimen area in Beijing in 2013. The good Daewoo was in a reasonable shape, painted in white and standing on steel wheels. It didn’t have license plates but there was an official temporarily license plate number behind the windshield (on the left on the photo).
Continue reading “Daewoo Espero Is A Rare South Korean Sedan In China”
