About China's Coolest Cars
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 Passat Lingyu was made from 2005 until 2011 by the Shanghai-Volkswagen joint venture. It was the successor of the B5 Volkswagen Passat. The 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.
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.
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.
Continue reading “BMW M3 Is White With A License Plate In China-2”
A Beijing-Jeep Grand Cherokee, seen on the road in Beijing in 2017. The big Jeep was dusty but otherwise in a good shape, and its best part was, without a doubt, the rare white 京·A MWZ-001 license plate.
Continue reading “Beijing-Jeep Grand Cherokee BJ2021G With White License Plates In Beijing”
A Mercedes-Benz C-Class L sedan, seen in Beijing in 2017. The Merc’ is wrapped is 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 is has been professionally applied over the mirrors and door handles, something many wrappers ‘forget’ to do. 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.
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.
