A Volvo 940 GL sedan with black license plates, seen in Beijing in 2013. The good Volvo was in a very good shape, painted in dark blue with darkened windows and fitted with pretty sporty alloy wheels.
Like any Volvo of the time, the 940 GL I saw had these cool SIPS Side Impact Protection System stickers on the rear window, referring to a then-new safety system in the doors and B-pillar that protected the passengers in case of a side collision.
The alloys are period and official, but these were not standard on the GL model. They were probably optional. In any way, they look great under this big Swede.
This badge on the left of ‘940 GL’ is hugely interesting. The Volvo 940 was not officially sold in China, with a Volvo dealer network and such, but there was semi-official and official trade.
Most Volvo’s in China were shipped in by the Swire Group, a British trade and real estate conglomerate with extensive operations in China. The characters are 太古, Taigu, the Chinese name of Swire. The company also operates several business under the Taikoo name, which is an anglicized version of Taigu. The most famous Taikoo companies are Taikoo Sugar and real-estate developer Taikoo Shing.
All Volvo cars originally imported by Swire had the Taigu logo and Taigu name on the back. Taigu started selling Volvo cars in China in 1993 and became officially authorized by Volvo for the Chinese market in 1997. Taigu then opened several Volvo dealers in the big Chinese cities, but in 2001 the Swedish ended the deal because they believed Swire expanded too slowly. After that, Volvo took the distribution and sales into their own hands.
Swire mostly imported big sedans, like the Volvo 940, Volvo 960, the Volvo S90, and the Volvo 850.
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 on engine type. The numbering started at A·00001 and then up. So the lower the number the older the car. This Volvo 940 京A·11238. Each province and municipality had its own black-license plate program.
It had a sporty look in general, with a spoiler on the back and black window trim. Perhaps it was some sporty special edition. If you know more, please let me know in the comments below.
The Volvo 940 was made from 1990 until 1998. It was available with various petrol and diesel engines. Most petrol-powered GL models had a 2.0 under the hood, producing 111 hp and 155 Nm. Horses went to the rear wheels via a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic.