About China's Coolest Cars
A beige brown Shanghai Maple Haiyu sedan, seen in central Beijing in 2015. The old Maple was a bit dirty and dusty but otherwise in a reasonable shape, with the original wheels and with old Tianjin license plates.
The Shanghai Maple brand has a somewhat confusing history. It began in 2000 when the Shanghai motorcycle maker JM Star moved into car making.
Continue reading “Shanghai Maple Haiyu Was A Cheap Chinese Sedan With Some Citroen Genes”
And that day back in 2016 I was pleasantly surprised to find brand new radio-cassette players on the shelves of a Jingkelong supermarket in Beijing. They had two Panda-branded models. Panda is a famous Chinese electronics brand, making everything from robots to consumer electronics , including several cassette and CD players.
Continue reading “Something Different: Radio Cassette Players In The Supermarket In China”
A black Volkswagen Magotan sedan, seen near Volkswagen’s former China headquarters in Sanlitun District in Beijing. The Magotan is a China-only sedan produced over several generations since 2007. The Magotan in the photo is a first-generation car, which was based on the Volkswagen Passat B6.
Continue reading “Volkswagen Magotan 2.0 TSI On Black Plates In China”
A beautiful black Hawtai Terracan, seen in Beijing in 2016. The big SUV was in a fine shape, with smooth paint, the original wheels, the ultra cool fender mirror, and old period license plates.
A Guangzhou-Honda Odyssey MPV, seen in Beijing in 2016, with Liaoning Province license plates. The good Honda was in a great shape, painted in a classy dark green, with the original wheel covers still on the car.
Continue reading “Second Generation Guangzhou-Honda Odyssey Is A Rare Japanese MPV In China”
I was very happy to find this Dongfeng Yueda Kia Pride hatchback in China. The hatchback is much rarer than the sedan. The Pride was in a fine general shape but it was seemingly abandoned, with the license plates taken off.
Continue reading “Dongfeng Yueda Kia Pride Hatchback In China”
An incredible well-conserved Mercedes-Benz E240, seen in Beijing back in 2016. The great Mercedes was in a perfect shape, painted in a light shade of gold and fitted with the original factory wheel covers.
Continue reading “Mercedes-Benz E240 Is A Golden Oldie In China”
Back in April I wrote about a 4th generation Honda Accord sedan with black 京A·03383 license plates. When digging through my archives I found another and very similar car, with 京A·07472 black license plates.
Continue reading “Fourth Generation Honda Accord Sedan In China With Black Plates – 2”
An almost sinister BMW Z4 sDrive35i, seen in Beijing in 2016. The speedy Bimmer is painted in a very dark shade of black, and further darkened by dark light visors, dark windows, and dark wheels.
Continue reading “BMW Z4 sDrive35i Is Black With An Unlucky License Plate”
A very nice Besturn B30 sedan, seen in Beijing in 2016. The good Besturn was painted in white and fitted with factory-standard sporty five spoke wheels. Besturn was a brand under First Auto Works (FAW). In 2018 the English name changed to Bestune but the Chinese name remained the same (奔腾, Benteng).
Continue reading “The Besturn B30 Is An Unknown Chinese Sedan”
