Fake Veteran Cars in Chinese Car Museums

Car museums and veteran car exhibitions are getting more and more popular in China. These museums like to exhibit those cars which stood at the dawn of the Chinese automotive industry. And here they are confronted with a problem: due to intensive scrap regulations most of these cars have disappeared. China would not be China if there was a creative solution. The exhibitors simply make replicas of these cars. Now we meet two problems; one, the replicas are often crudely made, mostly due to ignorance; two, some museums don’t tell the visitor that he is looking at a replica. Here some examples.

DONGFENG CA71 (FAW).

Only two originals are known, one in the First Auto Works collection and the other in the Luo Wenyou Classic Car Museum in Huairou near Beijing.

Replica 1 is made by the Beijing Auto Museum in Fengtai district. The donor car for the replica is GAZ Volga M21. I have to tell you that the Beijing Museum explicitly signposted that the car is a replica.

Replica 2 is exposed in the Taishan Classic Car Museum. Very interesting as I am not sure about the donor car, but I guess it is an Opel Rekord made in 1960-1962.  See the photo here under.

FENGHUANG (SHANGHAI).

Fenghuang first model. This car is not existing anymore. SAIC has a private collection with a Fenghuang replica. The donor is a Shanghai SH760A. I have a strong feeling that some elements of the initial prototype have been saved and used on this replica. Especially the phoenix ornament, the lettering, the bumpers.

Fenghuang production type. I don’t think there is any original car left. OK, this replica is more a phantasy between the first model from here above and the SH760 production version. You can meet this car in the Shanghai History Museum (in the basement of the Oriental Pearl Tower in Pudong). The donor is a GAZ Volga M21.

Shanghai SH761 parade car. In my last article I already have written about this car. Exhibited in the Shanghai Auto Museum, donor probably a Shanghai SH760.

DONGFANGHONG (BEIJING)

Of this car two originals are left, one in the private collection of mr. Bai Guang of Linqing, Shandong province; the second one in the Classic Car Museum of mr. Luo Wenyou.

Beijing Auto Museum has a replica based on this Dongfanghong BJ760. The donor is a GAZ Volga M21 (yes, the Volga is very popular for replicas!).

MINSHENG 75

There are some smaller models of the first Chinese truck (1931). They are not very accurate. Beijing Auto Museum has one, Sanhe Classic Car Museum another.

There are at least three full sizes incorrect models. They are exhibited in the Shenyang Industrial Museum and the Marshal Zhang Museum. A mr. Li Yasheng has made a third one.

Do you know any other fake in a Chinese car museum? Please, let us know!

You can find a list of Chinese car museums with links here. This list will be very soon updated with more museums, about four more.