Again about a car that has no place in history. I tell you about two different pickup versions of the big Hongqi limousine.
Let us start with the wonderful picture above. The American photographer Stephen Hayes made a winter photo in November 1984 in the Changchun area country side, showing of this group of people with a horse carriage, when a blue Hongqi appeared. Never seen a blue Hongqi. He took the photo at the right moment, the car was just passing, superb! A wonderful contrast between the past and the future.
And then, the car was not only light blue, it was a pickup conversion. Hongqi’s are always black limousines. Never seen a blue Hongqi before, never seen a pickup before, never seen after.
I wrote for you about the Hongqi Station Wagons, but there doesn’t seem to be any relation to this pickup.
There is a little tin toy, a Hongqi pickup which resembles the light blue car.
In 2003, a picture appeared in a large photo book which was simply named Di Yi Qiche, (No.1 Automobile, short for FAW, First Auto Works), edited by Xinhua Chubanshe.
The picture shows a big party or funeral in November 1986, in front of the main FAW factory entrance of that time, the so-called two towers, to the upper right.
In the middle of the picture there are two white Hongqi limousines, converted into pickups, with a big drum in the loading area.
These pickups are most certainly conversions made by FAW itself. These cars are more in a classical pickup-style (with a wooden loading platform) than the light blue example of 1984.
The end of this all.
Nobody can tell us anything about these vehicles. I suppose they were one-offs, and that they disappeared after some time.
Unless you??? know more???
November 2023: one of the reactions is from Jürg Peter Rabe, he wrote: “The two white pickups with the drummers… Do you mean they are the same? I don´t think so! Please look : The first one has a wooden pickup back, like a usual truck, of course. But the second behind ( Please make the photo as big as possible!) I think it has a metal pickup back similar like Toyotas or Peugeots in those years. I am right or wrong? Please look also to the drawing I sent and compare it.”
My first thought is that the blue hongqi is a “flower car”. Those were used in USA from time to time at funeral motorcades. But I dont know if such cultural thing was in China too, it would at least make sense with the car being a Hongqi and not something more ordinary… Have you tried contacting FAW about it? EDIT: a second and more plausible thought is, that these were cars specifically made for the use of transporting things within the factory. I do know that BMW made a 3-series pickup. and Skoda made a Fabia with rear end… Read more »
Hello JFK, I can’t confirm either the one or the other story.
If I had to guess I would say that the blue Hongqi seems a conversion from a sedan body while the two FAW ones seem to be a more intentional build and not some afterthough project.
The blue used in the first one looks like the “standard” blue used on many chinese trucks.
You could be right, FilFb22, but honestly I don’t know. There is an interesting detail visible at the blue pickup, to reinforce the body/chassis there is a large metal support at the bottom of the doors. The long wheelbase Hongqi which you can see in a South Korean museum has the same reinforcement. This car was made by a local Changchun workshop.
The lwb Hongqi, now in South Korea.
Most likely, this pickup was really made exclusively for the needs of the plant. At our soviet ZAZ-plant, pickup cars were made from some serial “968rtation o”s (model “968MP” in the picture), which were used for various works at the plant: transpof tools, for example. A large flatbed truck is not needed for this work, and a small car is better choice.
A still-produced (and modified) car would be preferable: unification of parts, ease of repair, etc.
I suspect the blue one was locally made from a car retired from more formal duties. This happened a lot in 60s Romania, where older Pobedas and Volgas were converted into pickups – of which there was a great need. Factory ones look like they were custom built for internal use.
oh my lady gaga
Ahhh…
This is “Xiao Wan-neng”（“小万能”in Chinese, its means “little multi-fuction vehicle based on car platform”）.
These pickup truck were made in FAW 1st Car Works. They use it to carry small car/truck parts,sometimes they use it to carry people from one place to another….
All of the Xiao Wan-neng are hand made,workers cut the CA770 car body,and place the
truck bed from CD130 light truck,or just make a beautiful truck bed using the second and third row place and trunk from the CA770 original body.
The Changchun Dongfeng Auto Works, predecessor of the FAW Changchun Light Auto Works, made a range of different Changchun CD130 two ton trucks; 2-ton, crew (double) cab, diesel, long wheelbase, refrigerator vehicle.
The photo (Barnham, 1981) shows a billboard drawing of the CD130 in Changchun. The first trucks (with BJ130 cab) had already left the factory in 1969.
According to the oral account of a relative（(who used to work as an assembly worker at FAW)） of my friend， he mentioned:1.The main purpose of this car is not to load goods, but to transport passengers in the rear bucket. 2.These cars have all been scrapped and recycled because they were used by the military and government, and were scrapped around 1997. 3.This car is often used for transporting technical personnel from troops, or for military bases or other high-end venues. 4.Due to its high cost and unique characteristics, this car did not enter the civilian market. 5.The rear suspension… Read more »