About China's Coolest Cars
A truly rare car for China this is. A light blue Moskvitch Aleko 2141S, seen at a small car repair shop in north Beijing, back in 2011. The good Moskvitch was very dusty and looked neglected. Staff at the store told me they were planning to restore it. Well, they always say that when I ask…
Here we have a pretty white car with a long and complicated name. This indeed is a Citroen ZX Shenglong Fukang 1.6i AX, seen in Beijing in 2018, painted in white with the factory wheel covers.
Continue reading “A White Citroen ZX Shenlong-Fukang 1.6i AX In China”
The Beijing-Jeep joint venture, or fully the Beijing Jeep Corporation (BJC), is best known making the Jeep Cherokee XJ and Jeep Grand Cherokee in China. But this busy joint venture also manufactured the Beijing BJ2020-series, based on the long-running Beijing BJ212-series.
The idea was to use American technology to gradually improve the BJ212/2020. The blue car we have here, which I saw in 2006 in Yunnan Province, is a Beijing-Jeep Beijing 2020 N.
The N model was the second improved variant of the BJ212 made by BJC. It was launched in 1990. Compared to the BJ212, it had better brake ad cooling systems, new mirrors, new lights, and new wheels.
It was powered by the 2.4 liter Beijing 492 QA engine, good for 70 hp and 160 Nm. Transmission was a four-speed manual, four-wheel drive. With that, the 1530 kilo heavy vehicle could reach a top speed of 100 kilometers per hour.
Here we have a big Dongfeng beer truck, in the correct worker’s blue, loaded with about a hundred crates of delicious Yanjing beer, standing in front of a restaurant in central Beijing.
I saw the truck in 2007, when Yanjing beer bottles still contained 0.645 liters of easily drinkable beer with an alcohol percentage of 3.6%. In my good old days, I drank a truck of the stuff each week. Sadly, most Chinese beer makers have since changed their bottle size to the internationally more acceptable 0.5 liter.
The Dongfeng truck was already an oldie in 2007, and it was clearly not having an easy day with its heavy load of booze! I love the frames on the sides, with reflective 3M tape, intended to prevent bicyclists from ending up underneath. Cheers, old Dongfeng beer truck, hope you are still around somewhere.
A very beautiful Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL in China, seen at a small car restoration shop north of Northern Section of the Fifth Ring Road in Beijing. The great Mercedes was in very good shape and fully original.
Continue reading “A Silver W126 Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL In China”
Back in the summer of the great year 2004, I was invited to the launch event of Dutch supercar maker Spyker in China. The company shipped in a beautiful Spyker C8 Spyder, painted in purple with a red-beige interior. It was unveiled to the media at the capital’s famous Zhengyangmen Gate.
And on that day in 2003, I went to an old housing complex in Beijing. It is very beautiful and fully accessible, but tourists have never found out about it, and as far as I know, the place still exists. Luckily, I saw some great cars.
Continue reading “A Fiery Red Pontiac Firebird And Some Other Great Cars In Beijing”
Back into July 2003 I went to the great Goldenport circuit in northeast Beijing to see some speedy racing. In those days, the track wasn’t in a very good shape but the atmosphere was fantastic. Lots of on and off track action below, with fast cars, cool cars, and some babes.
Continue reading “Going To The Races At Goldenport In Beijing In 2003”
An Isuzu television bus, seen under a flyover of the Third Ring Road in Beijing in 2005. It looked like it had been there for quite a while. The yellow 京A license plate is very old and ultra-rare.
An absolutely perfect Mercedes-Benz 280 GE, seen in a repair shop on a car market in the south of the Chinese capital Beijing. The blue G was in mint-condition and totally original inside and out.
Continue reading “A Blue W460 Mercedes-Benz 280 GE In Beijing”
