Category: All Brands

The story of Thunder Sky (Part 1)

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.

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Trip Report: Weifang Generations Classic Car Museum (Part 2)

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!

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Trip report: Jinan Classic Car Collection

Earlier this year I took a trip around China to visit friends and of course search for cars. I also visited several Car Museums and collections that I will cover over a series of articles. In today’s article I will cover a semi-private collection in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province. I have also used the “gallery” feature available to us on this website for the first time so that the scrolling length of the article can be shorter whilst still containing all the photos of the individual cars. Be sure to scroll through the gallery for each car! Let me know what you think of this new feature and whether I should continue using it in future articles! I have covered the Chinese cars first and finished off with the foreign cars.

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The story of Xingtai 114 Auto Works

Xingtai 114 Auto Works was founded in 1969 in a village to the southeast of Xingtai. Xingtai 114 was one of three main automakers in Xingtai that I have covered so far, the other two being Red Star and Changzheng. Xingtai 114’s product line consisted mainly of SUV’s, pickup trucks and buses, as well as some conversions based on products from other manufacturers such as ambulances. Perhaps most interesting of all were the unique Dacias they produced, unlike anything seen in Romania. More on those a bit later.

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A brief history of the National Electric Vehicle Experimental & Demonstration Area

The story of the National Electric Vehicle Experimental & Demonstration Area (henceforth referred to as NEVEDA) begins in 1995 after the Ministry of Science and Technology made the development of electric vehicles a priority in the 9th Five-Year Plan. Continue reading “A brief history of the National Electric Vehicle Experimental & Demonstration Area”

Crazy Car Production Days of Guangdong: Qingyuan Bende Chrysler Neon LS

Qingyuan Bende Chrysler Neon LS
Qingyuan Bende Chrysler Neon LS

Today in Crazy Car Production Days of Guangdong (CCPDoG™): Qingyuan Bende. This company made the Chrysler Neon LS under the infamous Guangdong scheme in the 1990’s.

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The Story Of The Roewe R95, A Mercedes-powered Korean-Chinese Limousine

Roewe R95
Roewe R95

Back in 2008 Roewe wanted to add a full-size sedan to their lineup, to be positioned above the Roewe 750. Happily, Roewe didn’t have to go far to find a suitable donor car.

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The story of China National Heavy Truck Group (Sinotruk): Changzheng Auto

Changzheng Auto Works (Changzheng means Long March) was founded in 1958 and in its early years was producing cars and car parts. As was the case with Hongxing, Changzheng was initially called something entirely different and began operations first in Beijing, before moving to Xingtai in 1970. Changzheng was initially called Beijing Xindu Auto Works. A likely reason for this mass exodus of car makers from Beijing as the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relationships in the late 1960’s, Beijing was likely wary of a possible invasion by the USSR and so, using the lessons learnt from the earlier invasions by Japan, moved whole industries to secondary cities further inland as a way of securing manufacturing capacity.

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A brief history of Red Star Automotive

This article will be a first in a series of articles documenting the automotive history of the city of Xingtai in Hebei province. I recently travelled to Xingtai for a second time. I spent the day with a media friend I had met through Weibo after my last visit in 2017. He was kind enough to offer to take me around Xingtai to see some of the car factories that were once part of Xingtai’s industrial output. Upon arrival in Xingtai he told me we were off to a car factory that was very much still alive and well. That car factory is operated by Hongxing – aka Red Star.

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