About China's Coolest Cars
A black Daewoo Prince sedan, seen in the Lido area in Beijing in 2016. The big old Daewoo was in a perfect shape and totally original. It was clearly very well maintained and looked like it had been washed a day ago! This Prince was by far the best I’d ever seen in China. Most look rather sad and beaten up, but this one was just beautiful.
Continue reading “Daewoo Prince Is A Princely Korean Sedan In Beijing”
A pretty blue Dongfeng DFAC truck carrying a very heavy load of discarded carton, seen in the far east of Beijing back in 2016. The load is so heavy indeed that the truck almost seemed to break, check the position and angle of the rear wheel! DFAC stands for Dongfeng Automobile Corporation, a major Chinese truck maker, and a subsidiary of Dongfeng Motor.
Continue reading “Chinese Truck Is Slightly Overloaded With Carton In Beijing”
A white Lada Samara 1.5i sedan, seen by my friend Amin K. in Beijing in 2012. The good Samara was in a reasonable shape, albeit dusty and in need of some love. The sporty alloys appear to be an after-market addition but the don’t look bad under the Lada. The blue 京A license plate is ultra old and ultra rare. It indicates that this very car was one of the earliest privately owned cars in Beijing.
The Lada Samara was made, in many forms and variants, from 1984 until 2013 (!). The four-door hatchback was the most common body style, followed by the sedan. The Samara 1.5i model debuted in 1995. It was powered by a 1.5 liter four-cylinder petrol engine with an output of 70 hp and 118 Nm. The engine was mated to a 5-speed manual, sending horses to the front wheels.
The Samara was imported into China in small quantities in period. Not via the normal business-to-business way, but more via government-to-government trade deals that could include all kinds of goods, from grain to construction equipment, from booze to cars. Happily, this Lada Samara 1.5i sedan survived the times for quite a bit, at least until 2012.
Back in the late 90s and early 00s, when you thought of Buick, what probably came to mind would have been images of giant landyachts with supremely-comfortable (ohh those pillowly leather benches…) but outdated interiors being driven 20 below the limit by some old Geezer holding you up in the left-lane. In China though, things were a little bit different.
A very striking Mk2 Volkswagen Golf GTI, seen by reader Ulrich in Shanghai in 2016. The great Golf is a work of art. It is painted in a very shiny pink with contrasting bumpers, mirrors, door handles, and other trim. The interior is in black leather with pink seatbelts and a pink steering wheel cover.
A Qiantu K50, seen by my good friend Joachim C. in the great city of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province. The K50 is painted in a pretty smurf blue and further sexed up with darkened windows and black wheels. The Qiantu K50 was made by a company called Qiantu Motors, which in turn was a spinoff of the automotive technology company CH Auto. After a long and complex development period, the Qiantu K50 finally hit the market in 2018.
Continue reading “Qiantu K50 Is A Rare Chinese Electric Super Car”
Welcome to Black License Plate Mania In Beijing Part 4 (Part 1 Part 2 Part 3), 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 Beijing-Hyundai Elantra with 京A·35420, and with a pretty lady in a wine red jacket.
Continue reading “Black License Plate Mania In Beijing Part 4”
There are not many Chinese automakers building stations wagons, now and ever. It just isn’t a popular kind of car in China. But some tried, and one of the prettiest Chinese wagons was the Brilliance Junjie Wagon.
Continue reading “Brilliance Junjie Wagon Was A Classy But Unloved Chinese Station Wagon”
Another badass Nissan Patrol for the collection. I saw this one in 2016 in Beijing, it was a bit dusty but a clean Patrol is not really a good Patrol. These cars need to be dirty and full with mud! The beige color scheme works very well on the big Patrol, almost as if it just came back out from the desert.
Continue reading “Nissan Patrol 4800 Is A Big Beige Off-Roader In China”
A Nanjing NJ1020 Unique van, seen in the great city of Guangzhou, capital of China’s Guangdong Province, in 2015. The fine old van was in a good shape, painted in factory green , and fitted with decidedly non-factory wide tires and shiny gold alloys.
