A very sweet SouEast Freeca DN6440-III MPV, with a factory plastic bull bar and painted in a classy wine red. The fine Freeca was in a good shape, and clearly still used as a daily driver.
Yes, it is really SouEast, with a styled ‘E’ in the middle.
The SouEast Freeca was manufactured in China by the SouEast-Mitsubishi joint venture from 1997 until 2008. It was based on the Mitsubishi Freeca, a compact MPV for the Asian market.
The Freeca was developed by Mitsubishi and Taiwan’s China Motor Corporation (wiki). Over the years the Freeca has been built in Taiwan, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and South Africa.
The Freeca DN6440-III was the second-generation ‘Chinese Freeca’, made from 2000 until 2003.
It was powered by a 2.0 liter Mitsubishi 4G63-S4M four-cylinder petrol engine with 120hp and 166nm, mated to a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic. Top speed was 130 kilometer per hour and 0-100 was gone in a speedy nine seconds.
Price in 2003 started at 88.800 yuan end ended at 119.800 yuan.
The Freeca was one of the earliest joint venture cars to appear on Chinese roads in significant numbers. During my first trips to China in the late 1990’s I saw more of these in Beijing than I saw Santana’s or Beijing-Jeeps.
They were used as private vehicles, as bus-taxis, and by the government. Somehow, the Freeca is largely forgotten these days, which is a sad thing.
The interior was after-market seat covers and radio. Manual ‘box in this car.
Second row with a two seat bench and a foldable seat on the right side. Seat had to fold to give access to the…
… third row. Yes, the Freeca had a full eight seats, hence its popularity as a bustaxi. These were semi-private vehicles riding on semi-regular lines.
They were an addition to the state owned bus companies that rode the longer regular lines. In the early 2000’s the bustaxi’s were largely gone from the big cities, replaced by regular taxi. But this kind of services exists until today in other parts of China, mostly in the countryside.
The brilliantly shaped mirror above the rear window, allowing the driver to see what was happening directly behind the vehicle.
Body kit with fender flares and large bumpers was factory-standard, giving the Freeca an almost sporty look.
The classic-Chinese characters read Dongnan Qiche, or SouEast Auto.
The DN6440-III. DN stands for Dongnan.
The SouEast Freeca DN6440-III. An important car in China’s early automotive history. We will not forget her.
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