A beautiful V8-powered Hongqi Qijian CA7460L2 stretched limousine, seen at a car market in western Beijing in December 2019. It was cold, but I got all sweaty when I saw this super rare Chinese-American machine. The shop’s owner was a very friendly fellow, who gave me a proper tour of the car.
Hongqi (红旗, Red Flag) is one of China’s most famous car makers, founded in 1958 and based in Chengdu, in northeastern Jilin province. Hongqi’s owner is First Auto Works (FAW). The brand is famous for its stately state limousines and its quirky, Audi-derived sedans and wagons.
In recent years, however, Hongqi has increasingly shifted its focus to the consumer market, offering a wide lineup of gasoline, PHEV, and EV models. But even today, every Hongqi proudly carries its iconic Red Flag hood ornament. On the Qijian CA7460L2, the frame is made of metal, while the red insert uses a special hard plastic.
The Hongqi Qijian CA7460L2
The Hongqi Qijian CA7460L2 is a stretched limousine variant of the Hongqi Qijian CA7460 sedan. Both are based on the third-generation Lincoln Town Car, developed under an agreement between Hongqi’s parent company, First Auto Works (FAW), and Lincoln’s parent company, Ford.
Hongqi created several limousine variants of the Qiyuan CA7460. The Qijian CA7460L2 was the longest of the lot, extended by 1350 mm. Hongqi produced it in very small numbers from 2003 to 2006. Qijian (旗舰) means ‘Flagship’.
Exterior details
Hongqi marketed the Qijian CA7460L2 mainly to the government; private sales were basically zero. Therefore, each model was equipped with these super-cool flagpoles. When the car ferried a high-ranking Chinese official, it would display one Chinese flag, usually on the left side.
When the car ferried an important foreign visitor, it would display the visitor’s country’s flag on the right and the Chinese flag on the left. The pole itself is made of steel; the top, which depicts a blazing flame, is made of plastic.
The Michelin Symmetry tires have a huge sidewall, but the wheel size is relatively small: 225/60 R16. That’s even a tad smaller than on the sedan version, which featured 255/70 R16 tires. The alloy style looks very beautiful, even today, with a shiny multispoke design. In the middle is the “Winged 1” logo of First Auto Works.
A chrome ornament on the D-pillar depicting three stylized, wind-blown flags, a reference to the Hongqi (Red Flag) name.
Note the Ford stamp in the window. American glass! Hongqi didn’t bother to replace it with a Chinese equivalent
Hongqi also carried over Lincoln’s typical five-button keyless-entry keypad. It lets you unlock the doors by entering a five-digit code.
The interior of the Hongqi Qijian CA7460L2
Hongqi didn’t touch the interior design – that’s all Lincoln in there. The cabin looked fantastic for the car’s age. Well-maintained and rarely used. It has only 62.329 kilometers on the clock! That’s basically brand new. The beige seats are super comfy and soft, the steering wheel is gigantic, and it has buttons and switches all over the place.
This is interesting. The Hongqi name is not normally displayed in this shape, but Hongqi had little choice: the original Lincoln badge occupied this narrow vertical space. Rather than fitting a different steering wheel to accommodate its own logo, Hongqi kept the Lincoln wheel and adapted its badge to fit the existing space.
The door sill features a small HONG QI badge. Unusual again, because in English, it is usually spelled as one word, “Hongqi”.
The door panel looks factory fresh!
The center stack houses the CD/radio/cassette player and the air-conditioning controls. There was no CD slot; instead, a factory CD changer was mounted in the trunk.
An aftermarket two-way radio transceiver, possibly left over from the car’s former official government duties.
The rear cabin
There’s a glass divider between the front seats and the rear compartment. There are two wide luxury seats in the back, with adjustable headrests and a wide armrest in the middle.
This is the best part: an integrated unit with a fridge on the left, a screen in the middle, and an extra radio unit underneath. This part of the car was Hongqi’s own work, and the radio is sourced from Pioneer. The screen could display TV and VCD, and it doubles as a computer display. In front of the unit is a single leather seat.
This is an official Hongi factory photo, showing the computer’s keyboard in the drawer below the radio. It also shows two remote controls – the smaller one for the radio and the larger one for the television. Note the double air vents on the divider; the car that I saw has only one air vent there.
The single seat was likely for an assistant or secretary.
The armrest has a single cup holder and controls for the radio. However, these control the Lincoln radio in front – not the Pioneer radio nearby.
The specifications of the Hongqi Qijian CA7460L2
The Hongqi Qijian CA7460L2 was a very large car: 6831/1980/1478, with a 4340-millimeter wheelbase. It was heavy too, with a 2230 kg curb weight. You needed a good driver, as the turning diameter was a massive 16.5 meters.
The engine was a Ford ‘Romeo’ 462, a 4.6-liter naturally aspirated V8 with 215 hp and 392 Nm, mated to a 4-speed automatic gearbox. Hongqi claimed a 168 km/h top speed and 0-100 in 11 seconds, which wasn’t that bad for such a gigantic vehicle. The fuel consumption was a little high: 11.8 liters per 100 kilimeters.
Price and Legacy
When new, Hongqi asked 1.1 million yuan for the L2 limousine, about $133.000 at the 2003 exchange rate. That made it by far the most expensive Chinese car on the market at the time. But the list price hardly mattered, as most of these limousines went straight to government agencies, which bought them at steep discounts. Only in the early 2010s did some of these cars enter the private market, mostly after local governments sold them off. The shop asked 450.000 yuan for it, about $64.500 at the 2019 rate. A lot of money – but probably worth every fen.
For a long time, the Hongqi CA7460L2 was largely forgotten. But in recent years, interest in this complicated chapter of Hongqi’s history has returned. Car enthusiasts are saving older Hongqis from the wrecking yard, and some have been fully restored. It isn’t quite museum territory yet, but it is getting there. Let’s hope the near-perfect CA7460L2 I saw has since found a safe home.