Archive for the ‘China Car History’ Category
History: the Changfeng UU CT3 concept
Published on January 21, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
Back now to the 2006 Beijing Auto Show. Changfeng Automobile from the great city of Changsha in Hunan Province surprised everybody with this kinky Changfeng UU CT3 concept. The only thing Changfeng made at the time where old Pajero’s under a license agreement with Mitsubishi.
History: the Hongqi HQ430 New Flagship bullet-proof Limousine
Published on January 18, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
Here we have a very special bullet proof limousine, it debuted as a concept car at the 2006 Beijing Auto Show. Its full name is the Hongqi HQ430 New Flagship. It was based on the Hongqi (Red Flag) HQ430 sedan which in turn was based on the Hongqi HQ3 sedan which in turn was based on the Toyota Crown Majesta. ‘New Flagship’ refers to the old Hongqi Flagship which was based on the Lincoln Town Car.
History: China’s first jeep, the Chang’an Changjiang 46
Published on January 18, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
China’s first mass-produced military jeep was made by Chongqing Chang’an, a predecessor of today’s Chang’an Automotive. The Chang’an Changjiang 46 was a Chinese copy of the American Willys Jeep.
Changjiang is the brand name, it means Yangtze River, which runs through Chongqing, the hometown of Chang’an. Production of the Changjiang 46 started in 1959 and ended in 1963. The numbers were small; 38 in 1959 and 1390 in 1963.
Introducing: Binzhou Pride Automobile from China
Published on January 17, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
Here we have a very interesting car company from China. It is called ‘Binzhou Pride Automobile’ and was, it is sadly gone today, located in the great city of Binzhou in Shandong Province. The company was established in 2006 and started making cars in 2007. Quick work indeed!
The problem was they couldn’t get a license from the central government to make cars, which you need if you want to sell your cars in the whole country. They did however have a license from the local Binzhou government so they could sell their vehicles inside the city, and only there.
That however also meant that the cars couldn’t legally drive outside the Binzhou city limits; the law was very strict on that. No wonder than that the whole Binzhou Pride project was killed in 2008. Still, they sold a couple of hundred cars. Let’s have a look at the line-up:
Spotted in China: Hafei Baili HFJ7090
Published on January 15, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
A nowadays very rare Hafei Baili HFJ7090, seen on a parking lot in the Fangzhuang area in Beijing and looking very well for its age. The Baili is a child of Harbin Hafei Motor, since 2009 a subsidiary of Chang’an Automotive but in the Baili-days still under Harbin Aircraft Industry, a military-aircraft maker from the great city of Harbin in ice-cold Heilongjiang province.
The Volkswagen Santana in China; a History
Published on January 15, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
Volkswagen announced an all-new Santana for the Chinese market, it will debut in 2013. Time so for a short history on the current Santana, made by the Shanghai-Volkswagen joint venture since 1985. There was the original Santana, the Santana Variant, the Santana 2000, the Santana 3000 and the Santana Vista. We take a look at all of ‘m. On the first pic a party in Shanghai when the very first China-made Santana rolls off the assembly line.
The Lifan LF1012 pick-up trucks from China
Published on January 10, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
Time now for a very interesting line of pick-up trucks. They were made by Lifan Automotive, famous for the mad 320 mini. The pick-up came in two: the Lifan LF1012 single cap and the LF1012S double cab. There were also two panel vans, the LF1012S single cap and LF1012SJ double cap.
The LF1012-series debuted in December 2006 and was, according to Lifan, “designed for transport between rural and urban area’s”. Transporting cows to da city and taking a new TV back to the farm…
History: the Dongfeng DFM7160 sedan
Published on January 8, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
Back to 2008! This is, or was, the Dongfeng DFM7160 sedan. As far as we know there was only one ever made. It was a prototype based in the Citroen Fukang sedan made in China by the Dongfeng-PSA joint venture. Dongfeng wanted to bring the DFM7160 to the market in late 2008 but for yet unknown reasons that never happened. The DFM7160 was a carefully kept secret, it didn’t appear on any auto show. Well, it ain’t no secret anymore now; it’s on CarNewsChina.com.
Taxi! Citroen Fukang gets There fast in China
Published on January 7, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
A Chinese taxi driver found his Citroen Fukang taxi a tad too boring and decided to sex things up with a neat aero-kit. Well, job well done. The good old Fukang is based on the Citroen ZX and was made in China by the Dongfeng-PSA joint venture. Production finally ended in 2008, the Fukang has since been replaced by the c-Elysee.
History: the Geely HQ pick-up Trucks from China
Published on January 7, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
The great pick-up truck makers from China are Greatwall and Zhongxing. Their trucks are affordable, big, basic, easy to run and do fine in a war. However, they don’t make any really small pick-up trucks and this where Geely saw a niche-market in 2001. Meet the pick-up trucks based on the Geely HQ hatchback, and there was a panel-van as well…
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