About China's Coolest Cars
A Hongqi CA7180A2E, seen in 2011 in the Chinese capital Beijing. The Hongqi was in a great shape. Painted in black with slightly darkened windows and a gray license plate frame. These frames were a popular after-market accessory in the 2000’s.
Continue reading “Hongqi CA7180A2E Is A Chinese-German Luxury Sedan”
A Hongqi HQ300 sedan, seen in the great city of Changchun in 2016. The good Hongqi was painted in black, like 99.9% of these cars always were. It was in a fine shape with the original alloy wheels and the ultra cool Hongqi ornament on the hood.
Continue reading “Hongqi HQ300 Is A Chinese-Japanese Sedan At Home In Changchun”
A Hongqi CA7220E sedan, seen in central Beijing in 2011. The good Hongqi was very dusty but in a fine overall shape. It still had the red flag hood ornament and the original 5-spoke sporty wheels.
Continue reading “Hongqi CA7220E Is Another Audi-based Chinese Sedan”
This is the Hongqi E-HS3, a cool electric crossover SUV from China. I saw it at a Hongqi dealer in the cold Beijing winter in late December 2020. It looked great in red with its huge shiny grille, the Hongqi hood ornament, and pretty alloy wheels.
Continue reading “Hongqi E-HS3 Is A Cool Chinese Electric Crossover SUV”
A Hongqi H7 sedan, seen in Beijing in the early spring if 2016. The Hongqi H7 has a distinctive clean design with a large shiny grille and large headlights. The multispoke ally wheels are factory standard. Some 99% of all H7’s sold was black. I have seen some white ones, but never one in blue or red or any other color.
Continue reading “Hongqi H7 2.5 V6 Is A Large Chinese Sedan With Japanese DNA”
A majestic Hongqi CA7200E3L, seen in the winter of 2011 alongside the Second Ring Road in Beijing. The big Red Flag was in a great shape. As always, it was painted in black. And also as always, it was very dusty.
Continue reading “Hongqi CA7200E3L Is A Long Wheelbase Chinese Limousine Based On The Audi 100”
A Hongqi HS5, seen in Beijing in 2019. The Hongqi HS5 is a premium SUV manufactured by China’s famous Hongqi brand, best known for their large state limousines. The Hongqi HS5 launched on the Chinese car market in 2019.
Continue reading “Hongqi HS5 Is A Compact Luxury Chinese SUV”
A black Hongqi CA7202E3 Century Star taxi, seen in central Beijing back in 2012. Hongqi taxi’s have always been very rare in the capital, most were used to ferry passengers back and forth to the airport. Continue reading “Hongqi CA7202E3 Century Star Is A Luxurious Taxi In China”
A beautiful black Hongqi HQ300 sedan, seen in the Dongzhimen area in Beijing in 2013. The good old Red Flag was is superb shape, with smooth paint and shiny chrome, completely original, nothing missing or broken, and not a spat of rust in sight. Note the factory standard red-flag hood ornament.
Continue reading “Hongqi HQ300 Is A Prettier Toyota In China”
A very beautifull Hongqi CA7221 L long-wheelbase limousine, seen in front of the building that housed the best hot pot restaurant in the world, in 2005.
Earlier on, this restaurant was located just outside the back gate of my apartment building. Later on, when popular, they moved 200 meter, to a new location on the second floor of a new office building, which was where I saw the Hongqi.
I remember feeling very annoyed about the restaurant moving that far away. Really, I came there like twice a week, always taking friends, ordering shiploads of beer. It was my place. And then they moved 200 meters away from me…? In the end, I continued going there until they were suddenly gone in 2014.
Back to the car. The CA7221 L was based on the standard Hongqi CA7220. The CA7220-series in turn was based on the Audi 100 that was made in China by the FAW-Volkswagen joint-venture. FAW (First Auto Works) is also the owner of the Hongqi (Red Flag) brand.
On the picture, you can see the car’s driver reading a newspaper, waiting for his boss to finish his meal. The entrance to the building is guarded by a Chinese lion-dragon creature. Red band around its neck indicates a festivity, like the opening of a new restaurant, or other such fun.
