Quick China update

[ChinaTom]

These are very popular in the outer suburbs around Shanghai - 125cc motorcycle based obviously, but 5 can squeeze in there if necessary.

 

 

Dodgy quality pics now - failing light and shonky Nokia to blame. You have probably seen the reports of the heavy snow in China recently - the pic below is a collapsed roof on a petrol station - miraculously no-one killed or any explosion.

 

 

Also, this probably best describes the poverty stricken hardships which this country endures - how do they get through life I wonder?

 

 

I witnessed the same degree of poverty earlier today when the poor struggling machinery manufacturer I was visiting picked me up in his wife's Maserati GranSport. Your heart bleeds...

[STUNO]

i just want one of those green things . i can just imagine the two of usturning left in a hurry. i'm a fairly weighty beast

[MrRegieRitmo]

5 can squeeze in there if necessary.

I can easily imagine them trying at least that!

[STUNO]

chinatom can you get some detail photos of the 3 wheeler and some technicals ? they just intrigue me

[Guest]

 

Why does the front of this remind me of the Rover 100??

 

[MrRegieRitmo]

I know what you mean. The colour helps though!

[ChinaTom]

I'll see what I can do regarding the details - it is not that often that I am out in this part of China. That may change soon though. Every time I see one I'll chase it and snap it.

[Guest]

Be interesting to see more. Rear view etc

[ChinaTom]

Sorry, no more actual pics of rear ends of chinese Robins for the moment, but I did snap these on the way back from the noodle house this evening. There is something about this colour that suits this old beast perfectly. Wifey had one of these to "do" Tibet a few years back - never missed a beat and outlasted many a Prado and Amazon over the 1200 mile journey.

 

 

Hopefully, you see the target of this next one - not the new Cima, which is delicious, but one of the few remaining 505's left in the city. I can confirm it says SWB on the back, not SW8, but my camera hand is also my throttle hand and due to the lack of lubrication in the engine of my scooter, it would stop on a sixpence if I had anything less than full throttle. Next time.

 

 

As for technical info for the 3 wheelers, I can wholeheartedly recommend the TaiXing website.

 

http://www.sandicn.com/en/

 

 

and for the more risk-averse amongst you,

 

[garethj]

Look at this one!!

 

Farkin hell, next time I'm in Taiwan I'll try and smuggle one back through customs

[Albert Ross]

That orange convertible has Rover SD1 doorskins!!!!! Come to think of it....................they all seem to............Did the design rights to theSD1 go to China with the rest????? Willl we see brand new Itals coming over here???

[Guest]

The all-new 1985 Austin Cackbox! Lovely.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Will we see brand new Itals coming over here???

Oooo I hope so!!

[STUNO]

Thanks for the website ChinaTom ..interesting! loved the way the site worked. Here's a photo, now how many do you want to order?

[ChinaTom]

There will be no Itals making their way to UK shores - that operation shut up shop in 1999. Sichuan HuanDu churned out Itals with a higher ground clearance, and they were mostly sold in the Western provinces. I sometimes see a blue one and a white one biffing about in Kunming, but they will all be over 8 years old now - the death knell for domesticaly built cars. All cubed - those that didn't dissolve by themselves.

 

Unfortunately, there will be no more Etsong Maestros either. WuLing Group bought the operation a few years back and stopped the production of these cars, which is out of character for them after their splendid Citroen Visa efforts from the 90's. Now GM have a large influence over their operations, but GM are actually just cashing in on WuLings already colossal market for tiny people carriers (HiJet style death traps). GM claimed to launch a "new car" to the market, but it was hardly new:

 

 

Sell in their millions though!

 

This is my personal favourite WuLing offering:

 

 

especially when ordered in 700cc form and loaded to the gills with bags of cement.

 

The whole point of the GM link with WuLing is this, another top seller here:

 

 

but it has an inevitable copy at 75% of the price from Chery. Careful when parking though - any mounting of the curb at over 10km/h will probably result in this:

 

 

Christ...

 

GM are going to be kicked by Toyota within the next few years anyway - GM in their wisdom decided to appeal to the "State Official" market - a huge volume of sales each year - with a 3.1 V6 Regal. The fact that the well publicized regulation that State Officials are limited to 3.0 engine sizes didn't seem to have any influence in that marketing meeting. 2998cc Crowns and Camrys flooded in...

 

Finally, there has never been an SD1 in China - India had it, but there must be a story behind the TaiXing SanDi doors - I'll try and find out.

 

One more for fun:

 

[STUNO]

Found this Chinese copy while wandering the net . This parked outside the

manufacturers factory .Apparently no longer made. Look carefully at the bonnet emblem

[MrRegieRitmo]

I can't, it's too small! But I'll look carefully at the door handles, wing mirrors & wheels instead!