The Geely GE was a Chinese Rolls Royce with a single rear seat.

One of the most desirable cars is the Rolls-Royce. It is not strange that over the years many copies, look-a-likes, or Rolls-Royce-inspired cars, appeared in China.

Geely GE, Shanghai Auto Show April 2009.

At the Shanghai Show of 2009, Geely introduced a whole range of concept cars, small and big. They were designed by Nova Design of Taiwan.

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China Concept Cars: The Story Of The Hongqi C601 Sedan

Today in China Concept Cars: the Hongqi C601 sedan. In the early 2000s, Hongqi was looking for a new mid-size luxury sedan. To get there, they developed four concept cars under the C601 code name. These were:

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Chinese Hummers Part 1: The Dongfeng Warrior & The Shenfei Falcon

Today we take a deep dive into the Chinese Hummer program. Like so many other countries, China got interested in an HMMWV-like vehicle after the first Gulf War. We take a look at four Chinese Hummer programs.  China being China, each of these programs has a base model + dozens and dozens of derivative military and civilian variants.

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The Hongqi HQD was a state-limousine that was too wild for China.

At the end of the 1990’s it was clear that the Chinese state limousine, the Hongqi CA770, designed in 1965, was old fashioned and needed replacement. A last revival was the Jiang Zemin version of 1999, called the “9910 Model”. In fact, five old CA772 armoured cars were rebuilt to make a last appearance during the celebrations of the 50 years existence of the People’s Republic.

Time for new blood.

FAW Hongqi HQD, design Chang Bing, 2004.

This is a drawing of the Hongqi HQD concept. The drawing is made by the designer Chang Bing. 

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China Concept Cars: The 2006 Fulwin 2 Coupe

Today in China Concept Cars (CCC): the Chery Fulwin II Coupe, a sporty two-door concept car that debuted at the 2006 Beijing Auto Show. It was an important car for Chery as it marked the debut of a new design language and the debut of the new Fulwin 2 series.

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The Jiangbei JJ720 and the Qinchuan SX720.

By scrolling the internet I always hope to show you more about the past of the Chinese auto industry. Now and then with success. In April this year I found some photos for sale on the always interesting website Kongfz, where you sell your second hand books and photos. These photos show an auto show in Beijing in 1988.

Jiangbei JJ720 and Qinchuan SX720, Beijing Auto Show  1988. Photo Kongfz.

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The Chinese Daihatsu Charade (2nd generation) and look-alikes.

Production of the Daihatsu Charade in Japan started in 1977. In 1983 a second generation was launched, which was replaced in 1987. The third generation Charade was also made in China as the very popular Tianjin Xiali TJ730.

Tianjin-Dafa (Daihatsu) Charade CX (2nd gen.), assembled in Tianjin, 1986.

But before the third gen., the Tianjin Automobile Industry Corporation assembled 3000 units of the second generation in 1986-1987.

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