A Chevrolet Corsica LT sedan, seen in the Chinese capital Beijing in 2015. The Chevy was sadly in a pretty bad shape and seemed abandoned. It was covered with a thick layer of dust and dirt and the tires were deflated.
Interestingly, the Chevrolet Corsica was exported to China under a rather misty trade-for-trade-status agreement between the U.S. and Chinese governments. Part of the agreement was the purchase by China of a large number of American automobiles, including the Corsica, the Ford Tempo, and the Plymouth Sundance.
These cars weren’t directly sold to the public but more like allocated among state-owned companies and government agencies. Later on, many of these cars ended up on the private market.
However, this particular car has black license plates, which were issued to foreign-owned companies from the 1980’s to the mid 00’s. These companies could buy a car locally or import one. There were no limits on the number of cars or on price or on engine type. The numbering started at A·00001 and then it went up. So the lower the number the older the car. So this 京A·08917 is pretty old.
The problem is that I cannot say for sure how this car got into China. Via the barter deal, and later sold to a foreign owned company? Or directly imported by a foreign owned company? Considering the time frame of the barter deal and the number of the license plate, it could be both!
The interior was in a reasonable shape, with the original fabric on the passenger’s seat. The driver’s seat was protected by a seat cover. Transmission is a five-speed manual gearbox. Note the dial on the right side of the dashboard. This dial controlled various functions, including the heating system. This is how it looked when new.
The Chevrolet Corsica was manufactured from 1987 until 1996 and became the second best-selling car in the United States in 1988. It was named after the French island of the Corsica.
It was available with many different engines over its production run. The smallest engine was a 2.0 liter four cylinder and the largest engine a 3.1 V6. The early cars came with a 3-speed auto or a 5-speed manual, later on the 3-speeder was replaced by a 4-speed manual. The LT was the base model of the Corsica range and was available with the 2.0 or a 2.2 liter four-cylinder. Output hovered around 120-125 hp, depending on production year.
The Corsica LT lettering in a classic-style font.
The Chevrolet lettering in the standard Chevrolet font.
Up until the mid 2000’s or so the Chevrolet Corsica was quite a common sight on the roads of Beijing. I have seen a dozen at least. Nowadays most are dead and gone due to age and Beijing’s strict emissions regulations.
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