Chinese Giant Soon Available For Purchase
The civilian version of the car shown in the video will soon be available for purchase, reports TheTycho from Beijing. It won’t come with the microphones and the stand-up podium behind the driver. Instead, it will have full reclining seats in the back.
The car is made by FAW-Hongqi and currently still goes by the internal code CA7600J. It is pitted against Bentley, Rolls Royce and Maybach.
Its 6 liter V12 with 400hp and 550nm of torque is a bit anemic for a 3.6 ton behemoth, but what it lacks in power it makes up in chrome.
TheTycho reckons the Chinese monster will be available some time this year. Price? Your guess is as good as mine.
Will you ever be able to drive it down Main Street? If it’s good for the Paramount Leader of the People’s Republic of China, it should be crash-worthy enough, but it may have issues with CAFE.
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Is that a permanently closed partition I see for the rear quarters? And apparently the view of where the driver is going up ahead is only accessible via LCD monitors?
So is it still called the Hong Qi (Red Flag)? When I worked in China in the early 90's, it was thought that the original version (which Mao and Deng used) was being relegated to lesser uses because of its aged design, reliability problems and heavy fuel consumption. Whenever I mentioned the Red Flag limousine, the first word that came to mind from the locals was "ben zhong" - meaning heavy, cumbersome, clumsy. I figured they switched pretty much to locally produced Audis (VW-Audi does partner with FAW up in Changchun, and they do produce cars like the A6 there) as the ride for VIPs. But I guess for special ceremonial duties, they do have an updated Red Flag, like the one Hu Juntao is riding down Changan Avenue reviewing the troops.