The Mystery car from Nanjing.

Our research is most often a success, this is a story of a failure. Till today I am unable to solve the problem I am going to describe here.

I showed you some time ago the products exhibition in 1959 of the Nanjing Auto Works. I wrote about the two cars present: a clear copy of the Russian GAZ M20 Pobeda and an American style sedan.

1959 Nanjing products exhbition.

Here is an enlargement of the American style car in the picture.

Though the car has a lot of resemblance to the 1950s Plymouth and Dodge models (or De Soto or Chrysler, all the same family), I am convinced that the car is a Chinese made copy.

1956 Plymouth Belvedere

Possible on a Pobeda chassis, like the first Fenghuang made by the Shanghai Auto Works. Which is not the same car.

Shanghai-made Fenghuang 1958, first prototype. Drawing Ivan Kolev.

This wouldn’t be a big deal, if not because of these appearances. Years later, in the early 1970s after the Russians had left China, the Chinese were very proud that they succeeded in finishing the work on the first Yangze River bridge on their own. And they showed it to foreign visitors, during a visit to Nanjing the bridge was included. A unique place to make a group photo. We have some photos of these visits. And there we go again!

Visit of the Maltese prime minister Dom Mintoff to the Yangze River bridge.

In April 1972 Malta prime minister mr. Dom Mintoff visited Nanjing, and of course, the bridge. He was received by mr. Xu Shiyou, chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Revolutionary Committee. Why it is of interest for us is the second car to the left, behind the Volga M24.

The unknown Nanjing car.

There are other photos of this visit, like the next one. I have asked the China Pictorial magazine if they can give me a better copy.

Photo-copy of a picture printed in the magazine China Pictorial, 1972/6. I made this copy in the 1970s at the China Institute of the Leiden University. Nowadays copying machinery is much better..

But you can clearly see our car , and maybe more of the same type.

Enlargement of the photo above, visit Mintoff April 1972.

The ever patient internet has even given us a better photo: 1972 visit of an Albanian ballet group to the bridge.

Albanian Ludmill Cakalli and Tatiane Sulejmani with their ballet troupe, Nanjing Yangze River bridge.

And here the enlargement:

Enlargement and see: our car behind the group.

It is possible that the Nanjing authorities bought a Plymouth or Dodge or so. But it is totally unlikely to offer foreigners of their friendly countries a ride in a USA car in the middle of the Cultural Revolution.

So there is a car of which we don’t know a name, we don’t have a good picture, we are not sure about the manufacturer, we have no details, we don’t know what engine is in it, in fact, we don’t know nothing!

I have sent a letter to the Nanjing Auto Works. But no answer.

Please help us when you can!

 

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Paul B

The grille says Plymouth 1955, but the fins say Plymouth/Dodge 1956. Chrysler in Australia used to market Plymouths as Dodges in Australia and they often had some blending of styles, but I don’t think this is one of those.

[…] eager to build cars. There were some initiatives over the years, remember the Yuejin CN-750 and the Plymouth-copy in […]