About the History of Cars in China
Welcome to the second article on the Shanghai brand. In the previous article I introduced you to the saloon cars and took you through the development of those models. In this article I will cover all the pickup truck models produced under the Shanghai brand, starting with the reasoning behind creating these models and going on through the development stages to the models that went on sale.
The Shanghai brand is one that has always fascinated me. Growing up in Shanghai certainly helped fuel my curiosity but I was never really able to understand the evolution of the brand and when different models were sold, particularly in later years. Searching online I also found that an accurate account of the development of the brand is hard to find, even finding accurate production dates for the models in one place is a challenge. So I decided to create my own articles on the Shanghai brand, starting with the saloon cars and in future articles focusing on the pickup and station wagon variants. Many thanks to Erik for his help with this series of articles.
This is part 2 of the story of Thunder Sky and their experimental electric vehicles, part 1 can be found here. In my last article I introduced Thunder Sky and gave you an overview of their early history as well as details on their vehicles prior to 2007. In this article I will introduce you to the cars they made after 2007 and also go into detail on their interesting relationships with companies such as FAW, Krystal and MVP RV’s. I won’t go into detail on some of Thunder Sky’s other ventures but it would be an understatement to say that they’ve been involved in just about everything! Winston Chung has been recognized for his work by the United Nations and Thunder Sky donated 10 million dollars to University of California Riverside to establish a research center named ‘Winston Chung Global Energy Center’, produced LiYPO4 battery packs (using 1000AH battery cells) and also helped install the batteries in buildings. All very cool stuff but not really car related and so I won’t be covering it all in my article because it doesn’t really relate to vehicles. For more details please search on Thunder Sky’s website www.thundersky-winston.com.
Back in 2006 Iranian automaker Iran Khodro (IKCO) tried, and failed, to get into the Chinese car market. They went into China in two ways: with a localized version of the Samand Soren sedan, and with the Peugeot 206 SD sedan.
Continue reading “How Iran Khodro Tried, and Failed, To Get Into China”
In 1987, the Shenzhen sub-factory of First Auto Works (FAW) produced a single right-hand drive Hongqi CA770G called the CA770C. FAW had a desire to enter markets outside China and the CA770C was created to explore the possibilities of export to right-hand drive markets including neighbouring Hong Kong.
Today in Chinese Concept Cars (CCC) the pretty red Chery M14, a sporty coupe-cabriolet designed by Pininfarina. The M14 was yet another great looking car from China that just not made it into production. And what a shame that was!
Continue reading “Chinese Concept Cars: Chery M14 Coupe Cabriolet”
The CA7560 series was the last hurrah for the CA77x series of Hongqi limousines. The CA770 was produced between 1966 and 1981 and was succeeded in 1985 by the CA770G which was a lightly modernised CA770 equipped with a 5.7 liter V8 engine from Ford. The CA770G lasted until 1988 with only 25 examples being produced in those 3 years. Between 1991 and 1992 a possible variant called the CA770E was produced (unconfirmed). Then in 1992 the final iteration of the CA77x series was released – the CA7560. In this article I will discuss the CA7560 and its stretched variant – the CA7560LH.
This picture shows four Hongqi CA72, three Beijing CB4 and two Tianjin Heping 2-type, together on Tian’anmen square in Beijing in 1959 or 1960. It is a very interesting gathering of the three candidates for manufacturing state-limousines for the People’s Republic of China. The chances are already clear taking into account the number of cars present: 4 Hongqi, 3 Beijing and 2 Tianjin.
Yes, it was Hongqi that won. And Beijing and Tianjin were the losers. Recently new photos have been found of the limousines from Beijing , which we will present here.
Continue reading “The lost Beijing and Tianjin limousines of China.”
Thunder Sky is a major player in the development and production of LiYePO4 Rare Earth Lithium Ion batteries. Thunder Sky started experimenting with electric vehicles around the turn of the last century by converting existing petrol powered cars to electric power. This included, as you shall discover from this article, everything from the humble Geo Metro to über collectible Hongqis. Join me as I take you on a journey to discover one of the most ambitious, ingenious and downright insane (in a good way) companies we will ever discuss here on the pages of China Car History. A journey so long it has to be split across two articles. The first shall cover all their vehicles prior to 2007 and the second everything after. Please note that right up until the day of publishing we were uncovering more and more vehicles produced by Thunder Sky and likely may find more in the future so these articles will more than likely be updated.
In today’s article I cover the second floor of the second hall (what I will call Part 2) at the Weifang Generations Classic Car Museum. This hall consists mostly of foreign cars, though one rather special and unique Chinese car does make an appearance!
Continue reading “Trip Report: Weifang Generations Classic Car Museum (Part 2)”