About China's Coolest Cars
Welcome to Black License Plate Mania In Beijing Part 8 (Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7), where we look at cars with black license plates in the Chinese capital. On the first picture a BMW 3-Series sedan with some M-bits with 京A·02230.
Continue reading “Black License Plate Mania In Beijing Part 8”
A heavily modified Mitsubishi Outlander, seen in the Lido area in Beijing in 2011. The Outlander is normally a somewhat boring SUV but this one was not. It looked like real racer with a hefty body kit, lower suspension, air inlets in the bonnet and bumper, darkened windows, and black five-spoke alloy wheels with blue brake calipers.
Continue reading “Mitsubishi Outlander With A Body Kit In China”
A Seat Leon Cupra, seen on a car market in China in 2018. The Cupra was in great shaped and looked fantastic in silver with black trim and darkened headlight visors. The black trim theme was applied all over the car, from grille to window frame to the tiny faux air inlets under the grille.
A Zotye E200, seen at a Zotye dealer in Beijing in 2018. The Zotye E200 is a cool electric mini car with a hip design. It was launched on the Chinese car market in 2016 and sold very well. Sadly, Zotye’s 2021 bankruptcy also meant the end for the E200.
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A big ‘barge Maybach 62, seen in China’s capital Beijing back in February 2011. The 62 was in a great shape, painted in a dark shade of black with a white stripe over the side. Thee was nobody inside, not even a driver, but it had the window open.
A Honda Odyssey police car, seen in Beijing in 2010. However, it doesn’t belong to the local police force. According to the first character of the license plate, this police vehicle hailed from Hubei Province.
The character is 鄂, or ‘È’, is an ancient alternative name for Hubei. Now that we are into characters anyway, let’s do the rest as well: the red character on the right side of the plate is 警 (jing), short for 警察 (jingcha), which means police, and that’s on the bonnet as well. On the side is 公安 (gong’an), and that means public security. This is a general term used by various police forces.
The Honda Odyssey MPV is somewhat of an odd choice for a police car. The third-generation Odyssey was made in China from 2005 until 2009 by the Guangzhou-Honda joint venture, the successor of the second generation Odyssey. The China-spec Odyssey was powered by a 2.4 liter four-cylinder petrol engine with an output of 160 hp and 218 Nm, good for a 190 hp top speed. Just enough to catch some bad guys in, for example, an old Civic.
A Venucia T70 compact crossover SUV, seen back in 2016 in China’s capital Beijing. The T70 looked brand new and was therefore in a great shape, fitted with a license plate with a double 8 on it. Eight is a lucky number in Chinese culture, mainly associated with prosperity.
Continue reading “Venucia T70 Is A China-only Compact Crossover SUV”
A rare E36 BMW 325is Coupe, Spotted in China in the Dongba area in the far eastern suburbs of Beijing in November 2015. The good 3 was painted in green and in reasonable shape. The paint on the bonnet, roof, and boot lid was heavily damaged, likely caused by bad Bimmer-hating weather.
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A super shiny Range Rover SUV in China, seen in the far eastern suburbs in Beijing in December 2016. It was a cold winter’s day but the Range Rover was as warm and bright as the summer’s sun.
A Wuling Xingwang LZW6358E3, seen in the Chinese city of Changchun in 2016. The little old van was in a great shape albeit in need of a cleanup and some car. The front bumper may look very aftermarket but it was in fact factory standard at the time, and so were the shiny wheel arch extenders.
Continue reading “Wuling Xingwang LZW6358E3 Is A Cool Chinese Minivan With A Weird Bumper”
