A red Xiali TJ7100 sedan, seen near the Agricultural Exhibition Center in Beijing in 2009, parked next to a white Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL. The good old Xiali was a bit dirty and dusty but otherwise in a fine shape.
The blue 京A license plate is interesting. It is very old and even rarer than normal blue 京A’s because the following sequence starts with a U, and not with a number.
The Xiali was manufactured by Tianjin Xiali, a subsidiary of Tianjin FAW. Tianjin FAW had a license from Daihatsu to make the Charade sedan and hatchback for the Chinese market, and they called it the Xiali.
Over the years, as Chinese automakers are wont to do, Tianjin FAW made dozens of variants of the Xiali, including long wheelbase versions of both the sedan and the hatchback!
The Xiali TJ7100 was a base model made from 1988 until 2000. Considering the license plates and the font of the badges, our red one appears to be an early car. The TJ7100 was also a very popular taxi, especially in north and north east China.
The early cars were powered by a 1 liter 3-pot with 52 hp and 77 Nm. The engine was mated to a 4-speed manual (later replaced with a 5-speed). Fuel consumption of the TJ7100 was a decent 5 liter per 100 kilometers. Size: 3680/1615/1385, wheelbase was 2340 and curb weight 815 kilo.
The beautiful TJ7100 badge on the back. It is hard to find car prices websites in China that go back very far in time. The best I could do for this car is 1997, when a brand new TJ7100 cost 37.800 yuan.
Up until 2015 or so the original Xiali was still a regular sight in Beijing, but today these oldies are getting very rare. Production of modern derivatives continued until deep into the 2010’s.
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