About the History of Cars in China
A while ago my colleague Tycho has written an article about Jinma and Soar, two manufacturers responsible for producing wedding cars. I have taken the liberty to continue in that and present to you another brand that was Jinma’s competitor in this segment – Tianlong.
Continue reading “Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Tianlong”
The Soviet Russian car industry in the communist era had a strong influence at the automobile industry in China, in North Korea and in North Viet Nam.
A good example is the Volga M21 sedan made by GAZ.
Let’s start with the CHINESE.
At the Beijing Auto Show, 2004, in a dark corner, there was a bright blue car.
It’s name: Sky Star.
The Beijing Automotive Group Co. and Renault (France) announced in July 1999 the assembling of the Renault Scenic (First Gen.) in Beijing.
Continue reading “Confusion about the Renault Scenic from Beijing.”
From 2007 till 2012 Changfeng Liebao developed and even produced some cars. The project was unsuccessful and was finally sold to Zhongxing.
In June 1924, the president of China, mr. Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan) wrote a letter to Henry Ford I, inviting him to start a Ford factory in China.
The Korea Pictorial (in Korean) of January 1959 showed some vehicles exhibited at the Industrial & Agricultural Exhibition (the predecessor of the Three Exhibitions Hall). Our reader Kawaishi _Kanae found this item.
Chollima electric car 1958. Continue reading “More about early North Korean cars.”
Already nearly 1 1/2 year ago I wrote about a possible existence of long wheelbase version of the 1958 Beijing limousine.
I ended the story with: “What we need is a good and convincing picture of the 1*06228 in its long wheelbase version. Who is going to deliver that picture??
Continue reading “A beautiful drawing of the long wheelbase Beijing limousine.”
Landwind has always been a minor Chinese car brand, yet it is also a brand that quite some car enthusiasts will have heard of. Outside China, the Landwind X7, a copy of the Range Rover Evoque, received widespread media coverage across the world. However, one decade in advance an older SUV made headlines in Europe for being one of the first Chinese carmakers to enter the European market, and for a disastrous result in a slightly fishy crash test by European national consumer motoring associations. This article will cover the eventful history of the debut model by Landwind: the X9/X6-series.
Continue reading “Crashed Export Dreams: The History of the Landwind X6 and X9”
Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Jinma Auto / Soar, famous for their gigantic Rolls-Royce ‘wedding cars’. But there was more, much more!
Jinma (金马) means Golden Horse. The brand was owned by a company called Qingdao Shengma Classic Car Co., Ltd. (青岛圣马老爷车有限公司). The designation was QJM. In 2001, the company changed its name to Qingdao Suo’er Automobile Co., Ltd. (青岛索尔汽车有限公司). This was abbreviated to Soar Automobile (索尔汽车), and that is the name they are best known for. That same year, the Jinma brand name was replaced with the Soar name.