Tag: License Plate

Rolls-Royce Phantom With A Special 京A License Plate In China

A Rolls-Royce Phantom super luxury car, seen in the Lido area in Beijing in 2016. The giant Roller was painted in black with a dark silver grille, a red-orange stripe on the side, and a totally red leather interior.

Note the Element Fresh restaurant in the background. They had a small restaurant chain, hugely popular in the mid- and late 2000’s, with ‘healthy’ sandwiches and such more nonsense. They filed for bankruptcy in late 2021. Too bad for the owners but I won’t miss them for a minute. Gimme pizza!

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Audi A6 With White License Plates In China

A black Audi A6 sedan with white license plates, seen in Beijing in 2015. The big Audi was in a fine shape with darkened windows and the original allow wheels, which looked nice and shiny for their age.

White license plates for passenger cars were only issued in 2002 and 2003 in Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen. It was an experiment were citizens were allowed to come up with their own alphabetical/numerical combinations.

The experiment was cancelled after citizens came up with far too much creativity, choosing for various combinations with ‘sex’, ‘CIA’, ‘FBI’, and the infamous USA-911 which appeared on a Beijing car not long after the September 11 attacks. After the ensuing uproar the experiment was killed off but owners were allowed to keep the non-offensive plates.

The second generation Audi A6 (C5/Type 4B) was made in China by FAW-Volkswagen in Changchun. Production started in 2004. Wheelbase was extended by 9 centimeters to 2850 for more space in the back. It was available with three engines: a 150 hp 1.8 turbo, a 170 hp 2.4 V6, and a 190 hp 2.8 V6. Prices started at 348.500 yuan. White plates are priceless.

Shanghai-Volkswagen Passat Lingyu Has Four Zero’s In China

A black Volkswagen Passat Lingyu 1.8T, seen on the side road of the Second Ring Road in Beijing. It had a very special 京C·H0000 four zero license plate, ultra rare so great to see one on the road.

The Volkswagen Passat Lingyu was made from 2005 until 2011 by the Shanghai-Volkswagen joint venture. It was the successor of the B5 Volkswagen Passat.

The Passat Lingyu 1.8T model was powered by a 1.8 liter turbocharged petrol engine with an output of 163 hp and 220 Nm. Price started at 181.800 yuan.

Mercedes-Benz GL63 AMG Has A Special License Plate In China

Mercedes-Benz GL63 AMG

A Mercedes-Benz GL63 AMG, seen in Beijing in 2016. The monster SUV has a very special license plate: 京L·92222. This sort of sequences are very rare in China and those who have ‘m do everything to keep ‘m.

Happily, these days license plates numbers are attached to persons and not to cars anymore. So even if the owner sells this Benz, he still keeps the plate and can use it on another car.  But why sell? The GL63 AMG is brilliant. Power comes from a twin-turbocharged 5.5 liter V8 engine with an output of 558 hp and 760 Nm. The engine works with a 7-speed automatic, sending horses to all wheels. It seats seven and has a 2500 kilo curb weight, yet in sprints from 0-100 in 4.9 seconds.

Somewhat badly, the Mercedes-Benz GL63 AMG drinks 13 liters per 100 kilometers and that makes it an expensive drive, even in China, where petrol prices are reasonable. The high weight and big engine = high taxes, adding up to a crazy purchase price of 1.98 million yuan in 2014. It is therefore pretty rare in China, and there is only one with 京L·92222.

BMW M3 Is White With A License Plate In China-2

E92 BMW M3 coupe

A white BMW M3 coupe, seen on cold spring day in Beijing, capital of China. The speedy Bimmer was painted in white and fitted with dark matte black alloys. But best of all was the matching license plate: 京N·M3W79.

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Beijing-Jeep Grand Cherokee BJ2021G With White License Plates In Beijing

A Beijing-Jeep Grand Cherokee, seen on the road in Beijing in 2017. The big Jeep was dusty but otherwise in good shape, and its best part was, without a doubt, the rare white 京·A MWZ-001 license plate.

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Mercedes-Benz C-Class L Is Matte Black With A Special License Plate In China

A Mercedes-Benz C-Class L sedan, seen in Beijing in 2017. The Merc’ is wrapped in a matte black wrap and further Benze’d up with darkened windows and a set of sweet sporty wheels. The wrap appears to be of a medium quality but it has been professionally applied over the mirrors and door handles, something many wrappers ‘forget’ to do. The best thing, however, is the ultra-cool 京N·S3333 license plate. That’s four threes!

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class L is the long-wheelbase C sedan for the Chinese auto market. It is manufactured by the Beijing-Benz joint venture.

Bentley Continental GT Gets A 7 In China

Bentley Continental GT

We all love a good Bentley, even more so when the numbers add up. That day, back in the great year of 2013, I met this fine Bentley Continental GT in central Beijing, not far from the east section of the Second Ring Road.

There are a lot of Bentley’s in Beijing but this fine example was especially notable because of its triple 7 license plate. That is a very rare sight. In Chinese numerology, seven is a good number for relationships, but it also sounds like “to deceive”, and as a slang word for penis in Cantonese. Take your pick! The Q indicates this Bentley is registered as a company-car.

Back in the 2010’s Bentley was everywhere in China. It is a bit less obvious  now, de to the changing political winds. In 2013, price of the Continental GT started just above 4 million yuan, which translated to some $660.000.