images: carchinanews.com
We’ve had a spate of Chinese posts in the past few weeks, including the legendary Hongqi “Red Flag” limousine, which is now again in production in its modern (RR Phantom-imitation) form. But in between, during the 1990s and aughts, there was an interim Hongqi, thanks to Ford, which sent over Lincoln kits, minus the front clip, obviously.
carchinanews.com has the full story on these Lincoln Red Flags, but only a few hundred of the first version were built in 1996-1997 or so, and only a few have survived, used as wedding cars, like the one in the top photo.
But Hongqi got more serious with the subsequent model, called Qijian (Flagship). There were several versions, all built between 1998 and 2002.
Obviously, the front and rear ends were customized in the Chinese style, and there were numerous variants in terms of stretches, all the way to serious parade cars.
But they were all Ford except for interior changes, and 4.6 V8 powered.But don’t tell FAW that; as they insisted that they owned the full intellectual rights to the whole car because of their re-style. I’m sure Ford had no problem with that.
In any case, Ford was dumped for the next generation, as FAW reached out to Toyota and used their Crown Majesta for the basis of the Hongqi HQ3, which went into production in 2007. Just as well, as FAW also entered into a major JV to produce a wide range of Toyotas for the Chinese market.
There’s more details and photos at carnewschina.com
It looks like the Chinese have a love for full-sized cars just as we do.
not in a practical basis though, it’s more of a way for the government officials to show how prestigious they are comparing to the regular citizens.
( I always imagine what they will react if getting few Crown Vic taxis with V8 and full size to counterclaim on them )
“they insisted that they owned the full intellectual rights to the whole car because of their re-style”
oh, to them it’s just a better way to tell the people it’s licensed rather than unauthorized copy ( like the vintage Hongqi and Shanghai during the cold war )
but other car companies dont have too many options even if they copied anyway, like Chery’is name ( too similar to Chevy ) and their Daewoo derivatives ( oh they picked right the sorry ones to copy! Bravo! )
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.If the Soviets “borrowed” styling themes from the Packards, makes sense that the Chicoms cribbed the Panthers.
I love the obscure stuff on CC.
The integration of a ’50s style front clip onto the ’90-’97 Town Car would be shockingly successful if not for the fact that it is a rather ugly clip. The bug-eyed ’57 Ford comes to mind.
I hate to say it, but the Chinese take on the ’98-’11 Town Car is better than Ford’s.
Yes, the front clip looks more formal.
but the quality is another matter, the made in China taillights and headlights yellow out pathetically fast. oh, and rust.
The front clip just looks anonymous to me.
It’s saying “Don’t look at me. I’m just another comrade. Really. Would I lie to you?”
Bizarrely, it works. Kind of like that C10 Skyline/Stagea mash up Scott wrote about.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-asian/cc-diy-taking-the-nissan-stagea-to-infiniti-and-beyond/
I like the front of the earlier one. Mating of retro and modern.
Hong Qi… not a fan. Oh wait! That’s a fan.
Chinese officials being driven around in cars “sourced” from Japan….hilarious.
About a year or two ago China and Japan started having very serious disagreements on the boundaries of their respective countries. China AND Japan (along with Taiwan) claim the same un-inhabited islands and fishing areas, irrespective of International Laws. Things got so heated (no doubt due to fomenting by the Chinese government) that Chinese citizens stopped buying ANY and ALL products from Japan. In fact, it escalated to Chinese citizens trashing properties (like Toyota dealerships) that were Japanese-owned or Japanese-branded.
If the average citizen of China knew the party “bigwigs” were being transported in vehicles that were pretty much 75-95% JAPANESE……?
That Toyota Majesta…looks almost like a cross of a Lexus GS and an older Avalon.