About China's Coolest Cars
A fantastic dark blue Wuling LZ 100 mini truck, seen in the great city of Dali in Yunnan Province in 2006 during a long trip through southern China. The car was likely made in the late 1990’s. It was in a very good shape, with the original decals, and wheels. The rear freight container was a factory option. Note the Changan-Suzuki Alto City Baby on the left side of the road.
Continue reading “Three Fantastic Wuling Mini-cars In Southern China”
A Hafei Songhuajiang police van parked behind an intriguing partially-home made dual-axle 5-wheel flat-bed motorbike. I saw these two cars in a small village on the far west of Beijing back in the summer of 2006.
The Hafei has the word ‘police’ in English above the windshield, which is rather unusual. Normally there would be a Chinese term in that place. Songhhuajiang police minivans usually seat four officers + a bunch of criminals in a cage in the back. It didn’t seem on active duty anymore.
The motorbike was clearly in use and available for rent. The owner likely got his inspiration from these monsters. Note the extensions on the handlebars to protect the driver’s hands from sunshine. In winter, these will be replaced with thick gloves against the cold.
In the old villages around the capital you can still find all sorts of fascinating old vehicles, even today, but it is getting less and less. With the electrification of everything the old petrol cars are slowly disappearing. Go there before it is too late!
A beautiful black Hongqi CA7221 L long-wheelbase limousine, seen in central Beijing in 2010. The Hongqi was in a fine shape, with the original hood ornament and the factory-standard alloys.
Continue reading “The Hongqi CA7221 L Is A Long-wheelbase Chinese-German Limousine”
A white Jaguar XJ6 sedan, seen on a very cold winter’s day in the far north of the Chinese capital Beijing. The single-wiper Jag’ was covered with the typical Beijing dust but otherwise in a fine shape.
A very pretty 997 Porsche 911 Turbo S in China, seen late at night on a quiet road in the capital Beijing in 2013. The speedy Porsche was painted in a pearl-shade of white with a red-brown interior.
Back in ’10 I went to the Lamborghini dealer in Beijing, where they had some proper metal on show. The shop was in the Jinbao Street in the center of town and also sold Bugatti. There was an Aston Martin shop next door and a Wiesmann dealer a bit further down the road.
Continue reading “Checking Out The Lamborghini Dealer In Beijing, China, in 2010”
Here we have a very pretty Volkswagen Individual Touareg W12, seen on a second-hand car market in the great city of Chengdu in China in 2016. The massively impressive SUV was on sale for a steep 520.500 yuan. Good deal! When new in 2006, price was a far steeper 1.58 million yuan. Not many were sold in China, so seeing one in the wild is very special.
Continue reading “Volkswagen Individual Touareg W12 Is Dark Blue In China”
A Volkswagen Passat Lingyu on the 2010 China International Exhibition on Police Equipment (CIEPE), held in the beautiful Beijing Exhibition Center in northwest Beijing. Sadly, the show has since moved to the less pretty China National Convention Center.
The show was about all sorts of police equipment, ranging from guns to uniforms to surveillance cameras. Great fun. But even better were the police cars, displayed by car makers hoping for a deal with the cops. Some of these cars did eventually make it into real police cars, others didn’t. The Passat Lingyu, like the Passats before it, would have a long police career. Continue reading “Shopping For A Police Car In China”
This is a Hafei Lobo Cross, seen in a car market in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province in China. The Hafei Lobo, or Lubao in Chinese, was manufactured from 2002 until 2012, with 3 facelifts over the years.
Here we have a black Hyundai Sonata with black Shandong Province license plates, seen at a small car shop in the far east of Beijing.
The man on the left is the shop’s owner, and the two younger gentlemen are his employees. They were all from Shandong, shipping vehicles from there and selling them in the capital.
Continue reading “Beijing-Hyundai Sonata With Black Shandong License Plates”
