There are not many Chinese automakers building stations wagons, now and ever. It just isn’t a popular kind of car in China. But some tried, and one of the prettiest Chinese wagons was the Brilliance Junjie Wagon.
I saw this silver example on a car market in Jinan in Shandong Province in 2016. It looked very dirty bot otherwise okay. The Junjie Wagon was based on the Junjie sedan, also known as the Brilliance BS4. Both were designed by Pininfarina, the famous Italian design studio that styled almost the entire Brilliance line-up in that time. The wagon debuted in 2009 and was made until 2011.
The interiors of these old Brilliance’s was always rather classy, with soft brown fabric seats and faux wood panels. The owner of this car installed cushy seat covers to protect the original seats.
Really a beautiful car, the pretty lines are emphasized by the black window frames and pillars. The owner darkened the windows too, for some extra effect. The Junjie wagon was available with three engines: a 136 hp 1.8, a 130 hp 2.0, and a 170 hp 1.8 turbo. The 1.8 and the 2.0 were sourced from Shenyang-Mitsubishi, the 1.8 turbo was developed by Brilliance, but based on the Mitsubishi 1.8. Gearbox was a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic. Price of the base 1.8 model in 2009 started at 108.800 yuan, which was a pretty good deal for such a pretty wagon.
Badge time! The first two characters are 华晨 (Huachen), Brilliance. In China, this is the name of the group company, but elsewhere in the world it is used as the brand name. The second two characters are 中华 (Zhonghua), an alternative name for China. This is the brand name in China.
The characters are 骏捷 (Junjie). The ‘Wagon’ part of the name was written in full in English, not only on the car but also in marketing and on price lists. Sadly, as it wasn’t very popular, the Junjie Wagon is a very rare car on the roads. Happily, I have seen a few, and I will share the others in later posts.
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Found my way here thru your post on sporty Chinese cars at Autopian, and I’m glad I did: I love seeing other cultures through their cars. I’ve always liked wagons, and this one reminds me of an AMG. Good lines! But, did they-possibly-use the same front door as on the coupe? It seems just a touch too long between the wheels. Although that also gives it a long, low, and competent look. A far cry from today’s CUV craze in the US. Thanks for showing it!