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”
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The engine of China’s officially-first car.
According several sources the engine of China’s first car, the Dongfeng CA71, is based on a Mercedes engine. A 1930cc engine, square: bore and stroke 85x85mm, 4 cylinder in line, delivering 52 kw at 4400 rpm.
Continue reading “The engine of China’s officially-first car.”
The Chinese Austin-Healey Sebring
In October 1994 a strange company showed its plans. It was the Beijing Golden-Thunder Classic Motors Co. Ltd. They were planning to produce an Austin-Healey 3000 replica, 100% of the production was meant for export to the USA. They didn’t apply for a license to sell the cars in China. A factory was planned in Liqiao, Shunyi, not far from Beijing. They opened a post box at the Jianguomen International Posts Office in Beijing.
The mystery of the missing CA70
One of the intriguing mysteries of China’s car history is the missing CA70.
In the mid-1950s First Auto Works (FAW) started truck production and the development of a complete automobile production program. The first products were the CA10 truck, a CA30 cross-country truck, a CA40 dumper truck, a CA50 truck tractor, a CA80 agricultural truck.
And a CA71 car. The CA71 car is the Dongfeng which is beautifully described by my colleague Tycho in a recent article. Soon followed by the bigger Hongqi CA72.
That gives a mystery, as which car was the CA70?
Fake Veteran Cars in Chinese Car Museums
Car museums and veteran car exhibitions are getting more and more popular in China. These museums like to exhibit those cars which stood at the dawn of the Chinese automotive industry. And here they are confronted with a problem: due to intensive scrap regulations most of these cars have disappeared. China would not be China if there was a creative solution. The exhibitors simply make replicas of these cars. Now we meet two problems; one, the replicas are often crudely made, mostly due to ignorance; two, some museums don’t tell the visitor that he is looking at a replica. Here some examples.
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.
Continue reading “Chinese Car Brands that Time Forgot – Zhenjiang Auto Works”
Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Hainan Automobile Works and Hainan Mazda
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.
Continue reading “Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Hainan Automobile Works and Hainan Mazda”
Questions, questions, questions.
Life of an automotive historian has its ups and downs. One of the interesting things is getting an answer to an old question. This can be great, it can give you a moment of great joy, as I showed you in an earlier article about the Wuqi products.
The Hongqis abroad.
The list of exported Hongqis is growing. Today I counted 16 cars. Five of them in the USA, two in Japan. The other countries with each one are: France, Germany, Switzerland, San Marino, Rumania, Hong Kong and South Korea. There is (maybe) an unknown number in North Korea, but that is not confirmed.
I will show them to you, each with some words from their own story, in the order of their age.
Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Guangzhou Yunbao
Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF™):Guangzhou Yunbao. Guangzhou Yunbao was a car manufacturer based in then Huadu city, now a part of Guangzhou, lying in the northern part of the city., Guangdong Province. They made several cars, all of them connected to Nissan in some way, for most of the 1990’s.
Continue reading “Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Guangzhou Yunbao”