#TychoDeFeyter

A fiery red car, seen in Beijing. An aggressive bumper sticker, showing the owner is very angry with Japan. Or, judging from the sticker, maybe it’s hot love? It’s all about those islands, which happen to sit on top of oil, and straight in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. What is this motherland-loving man driving?

Let’s say you want a Fünfer BMW, but you are experiencing cash flow issues.
Mei wen ti, no problem if you are in China. Creative and innovative Chinese companies are here to help.
Here is how it works:

BAIC and Daimler announced last Friday they are taking the Beijing-Benz joint venture a giant step further. Daimler takes a 12 percent stake in BAIC and both parties will work closely together to win market share from Audi and BMW. On the ‘grass roots level’ the close cooperation has long begun! Above, a Beijing Auto E-Series with a Mercedes-Benz grille. How did that happen?

This is the fantastic Shanghai SH761 parade car from the Shanghai Car Museum in Shanghai. It was made in 1970 and was used to show high ranking foreign visitors to the masses. The visiting dignitary would sit rather uncomfortably on a hydraulically lifted rear bench in the back of the vehicle. The ‘royal seat’ was so high that the curious populace could see all, down to the buttocks. The visitor was supposed to wave his hand and smile to the adoring masses…

I found this perfect Hongqi CA770 state limousine at the Shanghai Car Museum, and it is definitely one of the best looking examples I have seen in China so far. The Hongqi (Red Flag) CA770 was a giant sedan made exclusively for the Chinese government. Only 847 cars were produced in its long life from 1966 until 1981. Here is its story …

The Chinese Army was a great admirer of Benzes, so much that they built their own. Bamin State Automobile Works, or Bamin Automobile for short, was based in Minhou in Fujian Province. The company was owned by the Chinese army, it was also called the ‘PLA 7427 Works’. Bamin Automobile started business in the late 1980′s with a local licensed variant of the Beijing 212; the Bamin BM212A/BM213A.

Another rare treasure from China’s not too distant past, found at the Sanhe Classic Car Museum in Chengdu: A brilliant blue Shanghai SH760 sedan. In China, blue is a working man’s color, so let’s call it a hue of Jade. The SH760 was the predecessor of the Shanghai SH760A that we saw earlier on. The SH760 was made from 1964 to 1974, this particular example was made in 1972. We found the SH760 outside the actual museum hall for maintenance. This oldie still sees the road now and then.

Let people go to Chengdu to satisfy prurient desires. I went to Chengdu to visit the Sanhe Classic Car Museum. I found a car that was really for the chosen few, a fantastic Hongqi CA773 Parade Car. The parade car was based on the CA773 sedan which was made from 1969 until 1976. This particular parade car was made in 1974.

We continue our coverage of the 15th Chengdu Motor Show, brought to you courtesy of China coverer extraordinaire Tycho de Feyter of Carnewschina.

“ The BMW M6 Coupe, decked out in China’s national color, was launched today on the China auto market during the Chengdu Auto Show. There is only one, priced at a rather sick 2.33 million yuan, or 367.000 USD. Not cheap indeed and most of da money goes directly to the Chinese tax office. Big engined cars are taxed up to 40% of value in China. But no matter, the M6 Coupe is worth it, just for that brilliant 4.4 twin-turbo V8 with 550hp and 680nm.“

Of course, there are the female product specialists of the Chengdu Motor Show. They bring them out en masse on the second press day. Warning: If you are offended by insufficiently dressed Asian females with garters, DO NOT click the jump. We promise it won’t be a picture of big – ears.

“A model poses beside a car by Beijing-Hyundai during the 15th Chengdu Motor Show (CDMS) in Chengdu City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province,” writes China’s state-owned Xinhua news agency under a spread that is long on long legged girls and short on cars. Well, we aren’t Xinhua.

I came across this vehicle in a parking lot in Beijing. It is a Ford Tempo GL. The Tempo was made in the US from 1984 until 1994, the white car in the parking lot was a second generation Tempo, which would put it in the 1988 the 1994 timeframe. How did it get to China? Ford never officially exported the Tempo to China. It is not the first Tempo I had seen in Beijing, I have seen many over the years. One could be a diplomat’s car, two also, but ten? There had to more to this Tempo-invasion of China, and there is…

Popular wisdom says that China is a bunch of thieves with utter disregard for intellectual property. Any good, or even half good idea gets immediately stolen in China. In a man bites dog twist on the story, an American website is being accused of serial thievery of made-in-China intellectual property. According to Beijing-based Carnewschina, the Rockville, MD, site Carbuzz.com “systematically steals my content for their China-tag. CarBuzz.com steals my pictures, my information, but does not link back to me.”

Hongqi CA750f.

It’s one of those Tuesday afternoons here in Beijing. The air is barely breathable, and somewhere, a hammer drill is duking it out with a concrete ceiling. Time for another installment of Tycho’s Illustrated History Of Chinese Cars. Today we have a very interesting Chinese car. It’s a 1983 Dodge 600 sedan, dressed-up as a Hongqi CA750F. How did it get into China?

Two weeks ago, Bertel stole from me we brought you the very first pictures of the China-only RUF XL, a Porsche Panamera stretched by 40 centimeters exclusively for the limousine-orientated Chinese car market. The story has since been all over the internet.

Today, I present you the first pictures of the interior. This Porsche sure looks like a comfortable place to smoke a cigar, play with your second and/or third wife and to tell the driver to take it easy, or to go like stink.

China’s first mass-produced military jeep was made by Chongqing Chang’an, a predecessor of today’s Chang’an Automotive, a joint venture partner of Suzuki, PSA, and Ford.