Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Tianye Auto

Tianye BQ123
Tianye BQ123

Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Tianye Auto, a brand owned by the Baoding Automobile Factory. They were based in the great city of Baoding in Hebei Province. In the 1980’s and 1990’s they made a series of great looking pickup trucks and SUVs. Continue reading “Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Tianye Auto”

Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Wuhan Light Automobile Factory

Wuhan WH120
Wuhan WH120

Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Wuhan Light Automobile Factory, based in the great city of Wuhan in Hubei Province. The company that made a series of pickup trucks and SUVs in in 1980’s and early 1990’s.

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Crazy Car Production Days of Guangdong: Sanjiu Auto

Sanjiu Auto Honda Odyssey

Today in Crazy Car Production Days of Guangdong (CCPDoG):Sanjiu Auto. This company made at least five cars under the infamous Guangdong scheme in the 1990’s. Read all the details about it here.

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The First Auto Works Dongfeng CA71 Was China’s First Car

Dongfeng CA72
Dongfeng CA71

This beautiful red sedan is First Auto Works Dongfeng CA71, officially known as ‘China’s first car’. It was born in 1958 on the special request of Mao Zedong, who demanded a Chinese state limousine. I met it at the Beijing Classic Car Museum to the far north of the capital.

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China’s Zotye Auto Almost Made The Lancia Lybra And The Fiat Strada

Zotye Libolang
Zotye Libolang

In the mid 200’s Fiat was in big trouble, so they went to China. Not to sell cars but to offload entire production lines to Chinese car makers.

In 2007 they sold the platform for the Alfa Romeo 166 to Guangzhou Auto, and then the Italians went to Zotye for a more complicated deal that included cars of Fiat, Fiat do Brasil, and Lancia.

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Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: People’s Liberation Army No. 5408 Factory – Ling Kong

Ling Kong KJ5020.

Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Ling Kong, a brand under the People’s Liberation Army No. 5408 Factory. The company was based in the great city of Luoyang in Henan Province. In the late 1980’s and 1990’s they made a series of wagons, pickup trucks, and mini cars, using the designation KJ.

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Chinese Car Brands that Time Forgot – Zhenjiang Auto Works

 

Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Zhenjiang Automobile Works.

Zhenjiang Automobile Works (ZAW), based northwest of Nanjing in Zhenjiang city, potentially has a rather long history that dates back to as early as 1958 according to this Zhenjiang History website. However, we will have to fastforward to 1973 because we simply have no information on the company before this time.

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Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Hainan Automobile Works and Hainan Mazda

The first HMC6470 rolling out of the factory in Hainan.

Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Hainan Automobile Works.

Hainan Automobile Works (henceforth referred to as HAW) was founded in 1989 as a result of cooperation between the Hainan government and already established Hainan Auto Stamping Factory (henceforth referred to as HASF). HASF had experience with producing automobile components but the new company (HAW) would need a full assembly line on which to produce vehicles. Help came from an unlikely source – former President of The Philippines Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos sold HASF a factory that was once operated by Ford between 1968 and 1984. It was in 1988, 4 years after Ford ceased manufacturing operations in The Philippines that Marcos sold HASF the factory, allowing them to obtain a production line for their own future vehicle manufacturing. In 1989, Hainan Auto Stamping Factory was renamed Hainan Automobile Works.

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