About the History of Cars in China
Last month I posted a post on the cars of Hangtian Auto. Like many of automakers at the time, the company was also involved in the misty business of the Crazy Car Production Days of Guangdong (CCPDoG™).
Continue reading “Crazy Car Production Days of Guangdong: Hangtian Auto”
In 2012 my friend Tycho wrote in Car News China about Bamin. Time for a make over.
Bamin started as a repair company of the People’s Liberation Army in 1950. In 1955 it moved to Xujia Village, Jingxi Town, Fujian Province. Since 1965 the company was named People’s Liberation Army Factory Number 7427.
When my friend Sam wrote about the Xingtai made Dacia, he told us that there was another factory that has made a Dacia pickup copy: the Shenyang Sanshan Company.
Continue reading “The Sanshan Company made the other Dacia.”
Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Hangtian Auto. This brand was owned and manufactured by two closely related companies: Guizhou Hangtian and Zhongguo Jiangnan Hangtian. Both companies were based in Guizhou Province and their core business was military aerospace, including spacecrafts, airplanes and missiles.
Hangtian Auto (航天汽车) literally means ‘Aerospace Auto’. The brand was founded in 1984 and existed until about 2005. During that time, Hangtian Auto made a series of vans, small trucks, and minibuses.
Continue reading “Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Hangtian Auto”
After their life times efforts to make cars for the leaders, mr. Hua Fulin and two other FAW senior researchers and engineers decided to develop a real “people’s car”. The project was named “Sankoule”(literally “Three Mouths”) the name revers to the then standard Chinese family with two parents and one child.
Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Hainan Haisheng Auto, a brand based in the great city of Haikou in sunny Hainan province. They used the English brand name Hiseng, without the ‘H’. From the late 1990’s to the mid 2000’s they made a series of pickup trucks, legally-licensed Mitsubishi Pajero’s, semi-legal Suzuki Vitara’s, and much more.
Continue reading “Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Haisheng Auto”
Today in China Concept Cars the Geely Chengbao. It was unveiled on the 2005 Shanghai Auto Show and it was inspired by classic sportscars. The name ‘Chengbao’ means castle in Chinese. Continue reading “China Concept Cars: Geely Chengbao”
Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Dadi Auto, a somewhat crazy brand that made a series of station wagons and sedan in the early 1990’s and a series of SUVs and pickup trucks in the late 1990’s and 2000’s.
Continue reading “Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Dadi Auto”
Today in China Concept Cars the Patac Qilin, an attractive compact passenger car that debuted on the June 1999 Shanghai Auto Show
The Qilin was an interesting vehicle, a five-door hatchback with a slightly higher ground clearance than normal. Gray panels made it look a lot like the later ‘cross’ vehicles, which became very popular in China in the early 00’s. So Patac was far ahead of time! Continue reading “China Concept Cars: The 1999 Patac Qilin”
This sporty beauty is the Hafei Saibao, a very cool Chinese concept car. The Saibao, meaning Leopard, debuted on the 2003 Shanghai Auto Show. It was designed by Pininfarina and partially based on the Lotus Elise.
Continue reading “China Concept Cars: The 2003 Hafei Saibao”