A super rare super early FAW-Volkswagen Audi 100 sedan, seen in 2015 in the Wangjing District in the the Chinese capital Beijing. The good Audi was in a reasonable shape for its age; paint was a bit tired and there was some damage under the left light headlight.
The third generation C3 Audi 100 was manufactured in China from 1988 until 1999 by the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture in Changchun in northeastern Jilin Province. This particular car is a 1998 example.
The early China-made Audi 100’s had the ‘winged 1′ logo on the grille. The ‘1’ stands for First Auto Works, or FAW. The Audi 100 also served as the base for various Hongqi-branded sedans and limousines. Hongqi, meaning Red Flag, is a brand under First Auto Works.
In the early years production numbers were low and almost all cars went straight to the government. From the mid 1990’s private buyers started to buy the big old Audi as well. In 1999, the 100 was finally replaced by the first generation Audi A6.
The license plate is from Shanxi Province. The license plate number 晋0·00397 indicates this Audi was one of the first privately registered cars in that province.
The China-made Audi 100 was available with a 2.0 four-cylinder or a 2.2 five-cylinder. This great example has the 2.2 under the bonnet, good for an output of 127hp (95kw). This engine was also used in various Audi 100-based Hongqi sedans.
The original alloy wheels were still on the car!
The interior was a bit of a mess. Perhaps the owner was in the recycling business. The seats are covered by cheap after-market seat covers, and the steering wheel has a faux-leather cover. Happily, the radio-cassette player is period-original. Five-speed manual gearbox with a beige base and a black knob.
All China-made Audi 10 sedans had a typical car-wide rear light unit. In its early days the Audi 100 was the only upscale sedan available in China, and that is basically how the dominance of the Audi brand in China’s luxury car market started. They were simply there first.
Badge for the 2.2 liter engine, E is a trim level.
Audi 100 badge in Audi’s super cool old script.