China’s Obsession With Long-wheelbase Cars and My Obsession With Chinese Long-wheelbase cars

Today, we take a deep dive into China’s obsession with long-wheelbase variants of existing cars. Get some beer and chips because this will be a long (L) story. To be clear, his story is about LWB versions of existing cars developed for the Chinese car market. It is impossible to include every L car, for example, Audi has made 3 generations of the A6 L. So I have tried to limit myself to the most important vehicles. It is not about other China-only cars that happen to have a long wheelbase too and happen to have an L in their name, like the Audi A7L or the Ford Edge L. Chinese manufacturers sometimes use L-naming for luxury variants of cars, without any changes to the wheelbase. These cars are excluded from this article as well.

Continue reading “China’s Obsession With Long-wheelbase Cars and My Obsession With Chinese Long-wheelbase cars”

About the early developments of the Zhonghua plastic cars.

1985 Project BS111 under the flag of the Jingjinji Corporation, Beijing. Photo Automobile (Hong Kong) 1985-7-10.

These are the first two prototypes of the later Zhonghua plastic cars. The six young people on the roof prove the strength of the car.

Continue reading “About the early developments of the Zhonghua plastic cars.”

“New” old photos of the first generation of Chinese cars.

During my recent China travel, friends notified me of their new founds of the wonderful past of the Chinese automobile. Here are some, gathered by on Wechat. (a国 车志a)

Shanghai SH760A with the direction indicators within the grille line.
It looks like the man at the two different photos is the same person. So maybe there is only one car.

Shanghai SH760A with different grille (direction indicators within the grille). Photo Wechat.

Continue reading ““New” old photos of the first generation of Chinese cars.”

Intriguing: where is Mao’s hearse?

One of the intriguing projects is the Hongqi CA770 hearse, made in 1977.

It was the late Hongqi designer Lv Yanbin who made these drawings of a hearse, based on the Hongqi CA770 Station Wagon.

FAW Hongqi CA770 Hearse with internal cooling system. Drawing Lv Yanbin.

Th story was that the car was designed in 1977 to remove Mao’s body from the Mao Mausoleum when the Soviet Union was going to attack Beijing. The car would have been stored underneath the Mausoleum, in a part of the so-called Beijing Underground City.

Continue reading “Intriguing: where is Mao’s hearse?”

Jinggangshan and Dongfeng. Which one where?

The Jinggangshan (the two-door prototype) from Beijing and the Dongfeng CA71 from FAW (First Auto Works) were made in 1958. Both prototypes are still existing.

The original Dongfeng CA71 at the Museum of the Communist Party, Beijing. Photo Erik van Ingen Schenau.

This is the car which is generally regarded as the first Dongfeng CA71, and by official sources, also the first Chinese car.
Before, the car was stored in the FAW Warehouse, later the car was exhibited in the FAW Cultural Pavilion. Now you can find the car at the Museum of the Communist Party.

Continue reading “Jinggangshan and Dongfeng. Which one where?”

Frazar and Company in Tianjin.

I spent a lot of attention to the coach builders in the 1920s in Shanghai, the most important one of them and their motor show in 1921.
Though Shanghai was the most important of the cities in that era, there was also automotive activity in cities like Beijing and Tianjin. This time more about the Frazar company from Tianjin, it was reader Kate who told us that her grandfather worked there. A good reason to do some research.

Dodge car imported by the Frazar company.

Continue reading “Frazar and Company in Tianjin.”

Hawtai again: the Jiefang CA6410.

One of strangest cars is the Jiefang CA6410, strange because it doesn’t fit in in the standard FAW Changchun and FAW Jilin program.
We thought it was a product of FAW Jilin,  Tycho has written about  it in 2012.

Jiefang CA6410, photo Erik van Ingen Schenau, 1996. Registration Jing C-A5793 (Beijing).

Continue reading “Hawtai again: the Jiefang CA6410.”

Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Tanghua

Hello again dear reader, today I decided to write about quite a peculiar car brand – it has been more forgotten in china, than in the west – Tanghua (唐华). Over the span of almost 15 years, they made series of very strange concept cars, the most famous of them would be the trio featured at 2008 Detroit car show.

Detroit 2008 lineup, picture made by Alden Jewell from Flickr

Continue reading “Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Tanghua”