About the History of Cars in China
When travelling in Xi’an in 1984 I noticed, in front of the fire station in the centre of the city, a strange car, registered 24-05900. Or truck? The front looked like a Hongqi, the wheels were as big as truck wheels. And the wheelbase was very short in regard to the length.
Many versions (like parade cars, smaller versions, lwb etc.) are based on the ‘da Hongqi’, the basic CA770 Red Flag limousine. They were made by the FAW factory itself or by local car refit shops.
I will show you here four different ‘station wagons’. Well, in fact they are a so-called ‘engineering vehicle’, an ambulance, station wagon and a hearse.
Continue reading “The Hongqi CA770 Station Wagons From China”
Today in China Concept Cars the BYD ET, seen here on the BYD booth on the 2004 Beijing Auto Show. The ET was an electric concept car, imagining a future compact family MPV.
Today in China Concept Cars (CCC) the Changfeng Liebao C1, an extreme SUV concept that debuted on the 2005 Shanghai Auto Show. And amazingly, this concept actually made it into production!
Continue reading “China Concept Cars: The 2005 Changfeng Liebao C1”
This is the strange story of the assembly of Mercedes-Benz trucks in China, stimulated by the German Nazi regime when China was already at war with Japan.
Continue reading “Mercedes-Benz Trucks Made In China In The 1930s”
Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Yungang Motor, a brand under the Datong Automobile Factory. Yungang Motor made a series of SUVs, several minivans, a bus, and two cars under the CCPDoG.
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On the 2004 Beijing Auto Show, Changan Auto unveiled two concept cars. The first was was the Chinese Dragon roadster, and the second one was this Changan Chinese Sturgeon sports sedan.
Continue reading “China Concept Cars: The 2004 Changan Chinese Sturgeon”
In the great year of 2000 Chinese automaker Hafei Motors decided they needed a new design direction and a bit of much-needed cool. Hafei therefore asked famed Italian design studio Pininfarina to design a small city car and a concept car. The latter would eventually become the Hafei Menghuan.
Continue reading “China Concept Cars: The 2002 Hafei Menghuan Was A Cool Pininfarina Designed Coupe”
This is a story is about the Beijing Classic Car Museum in Huairou, to the far north of Beijing. It is the best car museum in the capital, and probably the best car museum in China.
Continue reading “Visit To The Beijing Classic Car Museum In China”
During long years, I am on my quest for finding more details of the Minsheng truck. Strangely the trucks is also well known under the name Zhongshan.