Hyundai Coupe Is Pink In China

Hyundai Coupe
Hyundai Coupe

Pink cars always look good. Proof: Check this pink Hyundai Coupe. Without pink, nobody would see it. Now we do. It is a wrap and the original color was white; note the areas around the door handle and mirror stalk.

The second generation Hyundai Coupe was made from 2002 until 2008, with facelifts in 2005 and 2007. Our pinkie is a pre-facelift example. The Coupe was sold in China from 2004 until 2007. It was available with a 140 hp 2.0 and with a 170 hp 2.7 V6.

They were quite popular and quite a few are still around today, most of them modified in one way or the other.

A Volkswagen Santana 2000 Police-Fire Car In The Rain In Beijing

Volkswagen Santana 2000
Volkswagen Santana 2000

A Volkswagen Santana 2000 in heavy rain in Beijing. Note the cool Xiali sedan in the background on the right.

This vehicle belongs to fire prevention and control (消防) department of the police, so it is a bit of both a police car and a fire brigade car. The white license plate are used by the police, People’s Armed Police (PAP), and by the armed forces.

I took this photo in 2010, when the old white license plates were still in use.  WJ stands for wujing (武警), a collective abbreviation police and armed forces. 31 stands for Beijing.

The Santana 2000 was one of many Santana variants manufactured by the SAIC-Volkswagen joint venture in Shanghai. It was rather rare to see Shanghai-made cars in public service in Beijing, as the local government mostly bought locally-made cars, like Hyundai’s and Beijing’s and such.

In any way, with so much rain the fire fighters probably had an easy night!

Beijing-Hyundai Sonata GLS V6 Gold In White In China

A white Hyundai Sonata GLS V6 Gold sedan on the streets of Beijing, right after a nasty dust storm, covered in dirt from the endless steppes of Inner Mongolia and Mongolia. Happily, it was in very good shape.

And it isn’t just any other Sonata. This is the Sonata GLS V6 Gold, the top-trim level Sonata made by the Beijing-Hyundai joint venture. It had a special grille with horizontal bars and it was equipped with loads of luxury.

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A Peugeot Double In China

Peugeot 505 and 307
Peugeot 505 and 307

Two pretty French sedans at sunset in the mountains to the north of Beijing. To the left a gray Guangzhou-Peugeot 505 SX2 with very early 京·A license plates and classy darkened windows. The 505 was made in China from 1990 until 1997, powered by a 105 hp 2.0 liter petrol engine.

On the left a far more modern Dongfeng-PSA Peugeot 307 sedan, painted in a dark green shade. The 307 sedan was made here from 2002 until 2014, a very long run that saw various facelifts and new variants. Power come from 108 hp 1.6 and 138 hp 2.0 engines.

The Peugeot 505 has sadly largely disappeared from the roads in China. But happily the 307 sedan is still all over the place, as it was a very popular car.

Toyota Camry Classical Was A Camry For China Alone

Toyota Camry Classical
Toyota Camry Classical

This is the Toyota Camry Classical, a China-only continuation of the Camry XV40 . It was made from 2011 until 2013 by the GAC-Toyota joint venture, alongside the new Camry XV50.

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A Changan-Suzuki Alto Party In Beijing

Changan-Suzuki Alto
Changan-Suzuki Alto happy Prince

I have always been, and I will always be, a big fan of the Changan-Suzuki Alto. It is one of the coolest cars ever made in China. In fact, when I arrived in China in 2003 I seriously considered buying one but it was just a tad too small for my needs.

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BAW Beijing BJ1021C 4×4 Fire Truck On The Double In China

BAW Beijing BJ1021C
BAW Beijing BJ1021C

A red BAW Beijing BJ2021C 4×4 utility vehicle, seen overgrown at the Crab Island amusement park in Beijing. Crab Island used to be a great place for drinking, playing, swimming, and whatnot more. Sadly, most of the park was closed in late 2019. The area will be used for a housing project.

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