Here we have a Toyota Carina E sedan, seen on a car market in Beijing in 2014. The good Toyota was in a fine shape, albeit a bit dusty. It was painted in dark green with tinted windows, and on old black license plates. The Carina E was a compact sedan, positioned above the Toyota Corolla.
Rear wheel cover was missing.
The Toyota Carina E was the European version of the sixth generation Toyota Carina, made from 1992 until 1998. It was closely related to the 10th generation Toyota Corona (T190). The Carina E was available with various petrol engines, ranging from a 1.5 to a 2.0. The engines were mated to a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic.
The Toyota Carina E, or any other Carina for that matter, was never officially exported to China so these sedans are a very rare sight on Chinese roads. Over the years I have only seen a handful.
The famous black license plates 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 engine type. The numbering started at 京A·00001, and then up. So the lower the number the older the car. Any black plate beginning with 京A·0 or 京A·1 is considered ultra rare. I know, I had one too!