When strolling along the Yangze River banks (Changjiang river) in Chongqing, 1980, Oliver Barnham met a Austrian Steyr-Puch Haflinger which appeared to be Chinese made!
This ultra-light military vehicle was designed in Austria as a replacement for the jeep. It was based on the Steyr-Puch 500, the Austrian version of the Fiat 500. The Fiat twin cylinder engine was enlarged to 643cc. The vehicle weight was only 650kg. It was built from 1958-1974.
The Guizhou Auto Spare Parts Works started vehicle production in 1970 and was renamed Guizhou Auto Works. It was one of the many small factories during the Cultural Revolution of which automobile production was announced in the Renmin Ribao (People’s Daily).
About 459 trucks have been built. In 1980, my friend Geert de Kleyn asked if there is still production. The answer, written in Esperanto, is NO. (Esperanto was regarded as the language of the future, specifically in the communist countries, we must all learn Esperanto which was the new world language. In fact nowadays this function has English.)
What was not in Renmin Ribao was that the Guizhou Auto Works, which was in fact a military factory , made a lot of different military equipment, including a copy of the Haflinger, production started in 1970.
This car, named Hongwei (Red Guard) GQ200 was the Chinese Haflinger. This was the car Barnham met.
The Hongwei CQ200 had more or less the same sizes as the Haflinger 700AP: LxWxH 2917x1350x1685mm, wheelbase 1500mm. The engine was also a twin cilinder aircooled boxer, 698cc. Power: 30hp/500rpm, curb weight 700kg, consumption 9.5L/100km.
This GQ200 (registered in Sichuan, 20-21427) was made in 1971, according the dataplate. Production: about 100, I think. All for the army.
The factory buildings, in the Mawang Temple District, were demolished in 2015. A reason for old factory workers to remind the authorities that they still got money.
Any car left? No, not as far as I know.
