About China's Coolest Cars
Here we have a wondrous white Volkswagen Santana Variant, seen in the Chinese capital Beijing in the summer of 2023. The good Santana was in perfect shape, it looked almost like new, with a super clean body and the original alloy wheels.
Continue reading “Volkswagen Santana Variant 1.8 Is Almost A Classic In China”
A pretty white Volkswagen Santana 2000 GSI sedan, seen in the north of the Chinese capital Beijing in November 2017. The good Volkswagen was painted in a classy shade of white with slightly darkened windows. Even in 2017, the Santana 2000 was fast becoming a rare car. This one was in need of some love but in a great overall shape.
Continue reading “Shanghai-Volkswagen Santana 2000 1.8 GSI Is An Old-School Chinese-German Sedan”
A Volkswagen Santana 2000 police car, seen at a police show in 2011. I always loved to go to police equipment shows in China to check out new police cars. I went there just for fun, but there were also real coppers shopping for new wheels. Naturally, they arrived with their own police cars, like this Volkswagen Santana 2000.
Continue reading “Volkswagen Santana And Passat Police Cars In China”
A black Volkswagen Passat Lingyu 1.8T, seen on the side road of the Second Ring Road in Beijing. It had a very special 京C·H0000 four zero license plate, ultra rare so great to see one on the road.
The Passat Lingyu was made from 2005 until 2011 by the Shanghai-Volkswagen joint venture. It was the successor of the B5 Volkswagen Passat. The 1.8T model was powered by a 1.8 liter turbocharged petrol engine with an output of 163 hp and 220 Nm. Price started at 181.800 yuan.
A pretty Volkswagen Passat Limited Edition, seen in China’s capital Beijing in 2019. The Limited Edition was launched in 2004 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Shanghai-VW joint venture.
Continue reading “Volkswagen Passat B5 Limited Edition Was A Celebratory Car In China”
Here we have a pretty Volkswagen Santana sedan, seen in the far east of the Chinese capital Beijing in 2019. The good Santana was in a fine shape, a bit battered up perhaps, but that is part of the appeal of these great old cars.
Continue reading “An Early Volkswagen Santana Sedan In China”
A Volkswagen Gol, seen in China’s Hebei Province in December 2019. The good Gol was a tad dusty & dirty but otherwise in a fine shape, painted in silver with the factory wheel covers and black trim on the bumpers and around the windows.
Continue reading “Volkswagen Gol Was A Fine Small Family Car In China”
A red Volkswagen Polo sedan, seen parked at a charging station in Beijing in 2017. Well, Volkswagen still doesn’t make an electric Polo even today, so we can be sure our red car is in the wrong lot. Happily, it was in a reasonable shape for its years. Paint was fading a bit, some damage here and there, and the original wheel covers were gone. But that’s okay, as black steelies always look great on red cars.
Continue reading “Mk4 Volkswagen Polo Is A Rare Sedan In China”
A Volkswagen Santana 2000 in heavy rain in Beijing. Note the cool Xiali sedan in the background on the right.
This vehicle belongs to fire prevention and control (消防) department of the police, so it is a bit of both a police car and a fire brigade car. The white license plate are used by the police, People’s Armed Police (PAP), and by the armed forces.
I took this photo in 2010, when the old white license plates were still in use. WJ stands for wujing (武警), a collective abbreviation police and armed forces. 31 stands for Beijing.
The Santana 2000 was one of many Santana variants manufactured by the SAIC-Volkswagen joint venture in Shanghai. It was rather rare to see Shanghai-made cars in public service in Beijing, as the local government mostly bought locally-made cars, like Hyundai’s and Beijing’s and such.
In any way, with so much rain the fire fighters probably had an easy night!
A black Volkswagen Santana 2000 1.8 GSi, seen on the road in the Chinese capital Beijing. The old Volkswagen was in a reasonable shape, but clearly in need of some work and love.
Continue reading “The Volkswagen Santana 2000 1.8 GSi Was A Sporty Sedan For China”
