A mighty Hongqi CA770G state limousine, seen in a hutong in central Beijing back in February 2012. Sadly, the great Chinese limo was in a pretty bad shape, with rust and cracks all over. Still, in 2012 it was not beyond repair. Hongqi is a Chinese automotive brand owned by First Auto Works (FAW).
The Hongqi ‘Red Flag’ hood ornament.
The CA770G is one of the last variants of the iconic Hongqi CA770. The ‘G’ is basically a modernized version of the CA770. It is recognizable by its rectangular mirrors and fog lights, which were round on the CA770. Inside, the G was modernized with a new dashboard and new steering wheel. It is a rare car, only 25 were made from 1985 until 1988. It is a truly big car: 5980x1990x1620, wheelbase is 3720.
The enormous vehicle was supported by jack stands. This is very common for cars in Chinese museums but I have rarely seen it on cars parked on the street. Well, at least it’ll protect the suspension. The wheel covers are covered with rust but factory original.
Behind the Hongqi stood a cool Great Wall Safe SUV.
The car had military-style license plates that appeared to be fake. After their service for the state, some of these limousines ended up in the hands of retired officials. And many of these officials had family homes inside the hutong area in the center of town.
The CA770G was home to a car, with water and food, protected by bricks. Lucky animal. I would love to eat in or under a Hongqi any day.
The headlight frame is one of my favorite design details of the CA770 series. The frame has 29 openings along the sides and top. Just beautiful.
There is a flag pole + Chinese flag on each side of the bumper. This was, and still is, common on state limousines. But normally, when a Chinese official is in the car, it will only show one Chinese flag. When a visiting foreign official is in the car, it will show the Chinese flag on one side and the foreign country’s flag on the other.
More flags! The ornament on the fender. This badge depicts the ‘Three Red Banners’ (三面红旗), an ideological Communist theme from the 1950’s and 1960’s. The banners represent: Socialist Construction, Great Leap Forward, and Peoples Commune. Later on, some Hongqi cars carried a four-flag badge, depicting ‘workers, peasants, commerce, and soldiers’. The ornament is made of metal with hard plastic red inserts.
The modernized interior with a somewhat strange rectangular dashboard in a wooden frame. The steering column and wheel are new for the G too. The gear selector is mounted on the column. The G came with power-windows, nut the panel has come down on this car.
Loads of space in the rear. On the left a bench, on the right two jump seats.
Every Hongqi had white-colored curtains in the rear compartment, giving the passengers some privacy.
In front of the Hongqi stood a cool Zhongxing Admiral SUV.
The Hongqi CA770G was powered by a 5.7 liter V8 engine with an output of 213 hp and 422 Nm. This engine was sourced from Ford and came complete with the unique Ford-O-Matic 3-speed automatic transmission. This deal was the first real contact between FAW and Ford. In the late 1990’s, this led to the Lincoln-based Hongqi CA7460-series.
The CA770G had the Hongqi name in Chinese (红旗) and in English. The older CA770 cars only had it in Chinese.
Design of the rear lights was inspired by traditional Chinese lanterns. The bumpers were vast and loaded with chrome.
A majestic machine in a majestic area of town.
Amazingly, there was another CA770 parked right across the street. It was covered with a thick blue blanket and I didn’t dare to take it off. It seemed in similar condition as the G.
The shadow of the roof tiles makes for an almost mysterious sight.
Afterwards, I regularly cycled bye to check on the cars. For a long time they just stood there. And then one day, they were gone. Let’s hope they are safe in a museum or collection somewhere in China.