This gray little fellow is a Hafei Saibao, a small sedan designed by none other than Pininfarina. Does it show..? I think it does. The overall design is certainly better than other Chinese sedans of that period, but some details seem odd, such as the lights and the far-too wide wheel arches.
Hafei Motor was founded way back in 1950, as a subsidiary of aircraft manufacture Hafei Aviation.
In the beginning it was mostly a car repair and maintenance business. They started mass-producing cars only in the early 1990’s. These were mostly small vans under the Songhuajiang brand, based on the Suzuki Carry.
In the early 00’s they moved into passenger cars, producing the Baili minicar, the Lobo hatchback, and the Saibao. The Lobo was designed by Pininfarina as well
Sadly, they didn’t find many buyers and the company almost went down, until they were taken over by Changan in 2009. The new owner cancelled the car-maker adventures, and since then Hafei is fully back to minivans.
They Hafei Saibao arrived in 2005, and was manufactured until 2008.
There were two engines available: a 1.6 with 101 hp and 133 Nm, and a 2.0 with 127 hp and 175 Nm. Both engines were mated to a five-speed manual, sending power to the front wheels. Our gray Beijing car has the 1.6 under the bonnet. Price in 2005 started at 63.900 and ended at exactly 100.000.
In 2006 Hafei launched a more upmarket version of the Saibao, callled the Saibao V. At that moment the original Saibao was renamed the Saibao III. Very odd and the market didn’t get it.
After just one year the Saibao V disapeared without a sound, and the Saibao III was once again called the Saibao. The Saibao V is ultra rare. I have never seen one on the road. I hope I will one day.
The Hafei Saibao was revived in 2012 as an electric, called the Saibao EV. This car formed the base for the Coda EV, which was exported to the United States in 2012 and 2013.
Plastic fantastic! But at least Hafei tried to make it a bit more attractive, with trendy round vents and some faux wood trim. The steering wheel seems very large. The radio is not original.
Space is a precious commodity in China, so if you don’t need your rear bench, you turn it into a storage room. Very common.
You can see that it is a proper design, it are just the final touches that let it down a bit. It needs wider wheels too.
The Haifei Saibao badge. In different fonts. Haifei is best translated as Happy Flying, a reference to the company’s aviation roots. Saibao means Leopard.
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I see dozens of this model in Syria and jordan, I admired its elegant design compared to other Chinese models.
In jordan, most of them used by driving learning schools.