Get in the Back, Hongqi Cat – Civilian Version of Red Flag L5 Introduced at $800K

Ronnie Schreiber
by Ronnie Schreiber

It’s not just Panthers that get some love around these parts. TTAC contributors Murilee Martin and Tycho de Feyter have both expressed admiration for the Hongqi CA770 “Red Flag” limousines made by China’s FAW (formerly First Automotive Works) and used as state automobiles from the mid 1960s into the 1980s. A few years back, FAW introduced the massive, 21 ft long Hongqi L9 (aka CA7600L), with styling heavily influenced by the vintage Red Flag limos. Since then, a slightly shorter version, the L7, has been used for foreign heads of state when visiting China. Last year the L7 went on sale to the public for the first time when a Red Flag dealership opened in Beijing’s elite Jinbao shopping district. Now, even a greater number of wealthy Chinese will be able to show up government officials in their mere Audi A6s. At the recent Beijing auto show FAW introduced yet a smaller version of the limousine, the L5, to the retail market and businessman Wang Zhonghua, who owns a chain of furniture malls in China, paid $4.9 million yuan, about 800,000 U.S. dollars, for the first one.

The L5 is still a large car, 5,555 mm (218.7″) long with a 3,435 mm (135.2″) wheelbase. It’s powered by the same 408 hp six liter V12 engine as in the bigger Red Flag cars. The V12 is backed by a six speed automatic transmission. Inside is white leather, aluminum, and wood, along with multiple flatscreens and reclining seats for the buyers, who will likely be riding in the back.

Tycho, who graciously let us use these photos from Car News China, says that the target customer is a patriotic Chinese businessman who is bored with Rolls-Royce Phantoms and Bentley Mulsannes. If you’re one of those folks, or if you want something impressive to have when you’re at your pied a terre in Beijing (there are no export plans at the moment), you can expect to wait about three months for delivery, since the cars are handmade.

The expansion of the Hongqi Red Flag lineup is to be expected. FAW invested over $300 million to overhaul the brand. Since the 2009 revival of the brand, Hongqi has delivered over 500 Red Flag limos to government bodies in China. Whether patriotism will overcome the stigma that domestic brands seem to carry in the retail Chinese market remains to be seen.

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, a realistic perspective on cars & car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this post worthwhile, you can get a parallax view at Cars In Depth. If the 3D thing freaks you out, don’t worry, all the photo and video players in use at the site have mono options. Thanks for reading – RJS




Ronnie Schreiber
Ronnie Schreiber

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, the original 3D car site.

More by Ronnie Schreiber

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  • 05lgt 05lgt on Apr 28, 2014

    It conveys authority and power. It's distinctive enough (are those LED rings in the headlights?) to be recognized immediately in the rearview of lesser auto's in its way. V12, soft leather, recliners with acres of legroom. As long as the HVAC is flawless it's perfect.

    • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on Apr 28, 2014

      If I'm in charge in China, and my car cost $800k, you better damn well close the road before I arrive. The proletariat will not view my personal conveyance.

  • Sector 5 Sector 5 on Apr 28, 2014

    Bloated Farina redux from premier Chou En-lai's Peugeot 404.

  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
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