Here we have a rare first generation Volkswagen Sharan, seen at Volkswagen’s China headquarter’s in the Sanlitun embassy area in Beijing. The good Sharan has diplomatic license plates, and belongs to the German embassy.
The Sharan was missing a wheel cover but was otherwise in a reasonable shape, painted in silver with black window frames. The poor car is covered with dust, but it was a very dusty winter’s day when I saw her. Her? Who?
Well.., hello little pretty! There are two more interesting things in this picture: a Volkswagen Jetta taxi, very rare today in Beijing, a 3-door Volkswagen Golf GTI, which is even rarer.
The first generation (Type 7M) Volkswagen Sharan was made from 1995 until 2010, with two facelifts. Our car is an original 1995-2000 example. The Sharan was available with various diesel and petrol engines.
There were no engine badges. But there was a GL badge for the trim level, and the GL usually came with a 2.0 petrol or a 1.9 turbo diesel. As diesel engines for passenger cars are forbidden in Beijing, even for diplomatic cars, we can be pretty sure this car has the 2.0 petrol under the bonnet.
The first generation pre-facelift Volkswagen Sharan was not officially sold in China. Official sales started only in 2004, so this car was likely a diplomatic import.
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