A rare Tianjin Xiali TJ7101L, seen parked near a car market in Beijing in the late autumn of 2017. The good Xiali was a bit dirty but all cars are in that time of year. Happily, it was in a reasonable good shape.
The Xiali TJ7101L was a long-wheelbase variant of the Xiali TJ7101 hatchback. It is the only factory-produced stretched hatchback ever produced. The extension is located in the middle of the B-pillar and measures eight centimeters exactly.
Note the Shanghai-Volkswagen dealer in the background. In China, each of Volkswagen’s two joint ventures has its own dealer network, and until the late 2000’s imports had a separate dealer network too.
The interior was as dirty as the exterior. The owner added a nasty looking gear-lever lock and red seat covers with ‘Minnie’. But that’s Mickey.
‘Xiali’ was the name of a series of hatchbacks and sedans based on the Daihatsu Charade. Daihatsu licensed the design to Tianjin-FAW, a subsidiary of First Auto Works (FAW), based in the city of Tianjin. Production in China started in 1988 and lasted until 2012.
The TJ7101 model was manufactured from 1999 until 2003. The long-wheelbase TJ7101L was only manufactured in 2000 and 2001. They didn’t make a lot so these oddities are a very rare sight on the road.
Chinese car buyers are known to like extended-wheelbase cars. Back then, most extended vehicles were sedans. Nowadays we have extended sedans and SUVs. But never did any Chinese car maker create another extended hatchback. Strange, really, because if folks buy long sedans and SUVs, why not a long hatchback? The reason is likely that hatchbacks have never been very popular in China to begin with.
The extension did make for a lot of extra space in the back. The passengers can stretch their legs like in a limousine.
Power came from a 1.0 liter 3-cylinder electronic fuel-injection gasoline engine with an output of 52 hp and 77 Nm. The motor was mated to a four-speed manual gearbox, sending horses to the front wheels.
Top speed was 138 km/h and 0-100 was gone in 15 seconds. Curb weight was only 845 kg, which explains the decent fuel consumption of 5 liters per 100 kilometers. We also know the fuel tank capacity: 37 liter.
The tag-on fog light is interesting. Many small Japanese cars were produced under license in China at the time, and in Japan a fog light wasn’t mandatory, so the car’s bumpers weren’t designed for one. But in China a rear fog light was mandatory, so manufacturers had to find a way to add one on the cheap. The simply stuck fog lights to the bumper or fitted one below the bumper.
This is a nice old glass mark. SG stands for French glass making company Saint-Gobain. They’ve had extensive operations in China since 1994. But in the last two decades the French have been beaten by China’s own Fuyao Group, a glass-making conglomerate that sells glass to almost all local manufacturers. Saint-Gobain stopped using the SG stamp in 2014.
Note the EFI sticker. EFI stands for Electronic Fuel Injection.
The TJ7101L badge on the back.
The Xiali (夏利) badge.