Looks like REINDEER?, Oh Dear, no, DEER ...

[lovejoy]

Got tempted by the listing of a Great Wall of Deers at a local bank repossession yard, so after a quick call to the bank, who said one was really only a parts vehicle, went along to see how bad they were for the asking price of $5000 each, which is in scrap territory out here !! (£1200 notes in UK). A great wall indeed of assorted grot, in a muddy dogpoo filled yard, with plenty of hungry mutts tied up to just about anything, hence no pics of the rears of the deers !

This was the "parts" one, could only get a good pic from outside the fence....

 

- and this was the "good" one, of which i managed an interior shot before becoming lunch.....

 

has anyone seen these anywhere, apart from China Tom, who described them in a PM as being built from chewing gum and old frigidaires ( I think I got that right...) They are actually old Hiluxes with restyled noses, so shouldn't be too bad, but to date, no local has bid on them...... I figured it must be possible to cobble together one good one from the both, and would keep me out of mischief for a while.

I asked when they were last run, would they start up, and was met with a very blank look. Not surprising, really... !

[ashmicro]

Aren't all these Crispy Duck Motor Co cars death traps? I read about a Geeley getting nil points in CAR this months.

[lovejoy]

and here's a GREAT WALL of 'em !!!

[Mr Lobster]

They look utterly horrible.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

The cab looks a bit like that of a Hi-lux, but do they share anything other than a 'look? I get the impression that it's just a rough approximation.

[michiel]

I love how the badge is a sad face - well, part of it at least.

[lovejoy]

Here's a part of the message from Chinatom ( I trust he's ok with me posting it up..) which kinda sums it wall up , favourably, I think... ?

quote - Great Walls are absolutely shite - made from biscuit tins and chewing gum. I love mine though. The engines may be different for export markets - mine is a good old domestic 4AQ engine (2.2 4 cyl petrol), but some exports used an Isuzu diesel which is OK.

 

Just know they are built for the cheapest of the cheap Chinese customers - if the interiors are bare and spartan (diy windows, remember to lock the doors yourself etc) then it should be fine - those with luxuries will not last very long. If they are EXLWB versions (like mine) beware of the banana chassis syndrome - check whether the front seats are leaning towards each-other - if the central console is in a valley, then the floorpan is bent. SWB ones don't suffer this though.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

To be fair, is that any worse than an old Japanese pick-up would fare?

[Lankytim]

I keep being told that the Chinese are well capable of building world class cars in terms of design and quality, but the market dictates that they build shoddy approximations of existing vehicles that that be bought very cheaply. I'm yet to see a Chinese vehicle that isnt complete dog shit, are they really capable of turning out something nice?

[lovejoy]

WOW !! interesting comments.... and one of the reasons I was interested in them is that they are BOTH 2006 MODELS ! so not very old at all.

(they were the cheapest by far on the list of 40 or so bank repossessions).

[Claypole]

Those two look like the dogs were living in them the past 4 years.

[barrett]

I have a theory that the communist way of life has bred the creativity and thought out of the engineers and designers.

The chinese were supposed to have invented all sorts of things hundreds/thousands of years prior to the west but now they struggle to make a pick up truck and a MINI Cooper.

 

That's a popular theory, but one I don't feel holds much weight. I'm sure if the Chinese developement teams were given five million quid and told to design an original car suitable for sale in the West then i'm sure they could. As it stands they are given a crumpled £20 note and a picture of an existing car and told "make that - but cheaper"

If you think about it, it is similar to the way the Japanese motor industry gained so much ground so quickly. If you use existing designs but concentrate on getting your quality levels up to a level where you can sell your products for export, THEN you can spend a bit more time and money creating unique designs. Obviously it's not quite the same as the closed nature of Chinese society means most of the people there would have no idea what a Nissan Note looks like so it doesn't matter so much. Still, I don't think there is a lack of creativity under communism, merely a lack of ways to channel it.

[morris_ital_lover]

Personally I don't think we should be comparing our "first" brushes with the jap motor industry to the Chinese currently. First off, IIRC, there are now many large western car plants across china, including most notably VW, which will be increasing their skills. However, ATM, only limited numbers are making to the "western" markets (similar to the very early jap stuff), the improvement will come when they literally flood us with cheap, slightly reliable, bland saloons that scrape through the NCAP tests (bringing in this needed revenue for R and D).

 

As for long term, the Chinese firms will become giant killers (I'm sure some of JLR/BMW/DaimlerChrysler/FIAT will eventually fall into Asian hands) but the qulaity ofthe products will remain low. Currently the Chinese prodcuts have to fufill market demand in China let alone elsewhere!

 

m0rris

[Guest]

You can't view the entire output of a country on a few products alone - it's like judging every European car around the Piaggio Porter, or every American car around those three-wheeled parking enforcement things. There are some decent-sounding Chinese motors about, it's just that the likes of Autocar only like to focus on lousy copies and ridiculously easy-to-crumple stuff. The executive car sector in particular seems to be doing alright. Roewe and Brilliance models look decent enough, plus there's a lot of "joint venture" type stuff based around not particularly old Mazda/GM/Citroen designs. The speed at which they are catching up is remarkable.

 

Euro NCAP tests are crap anyway. Take the Toyota iQ - it has a 5-star safety rating, yet the DSA say you can't use it on a driving test as the visibility is too poor. So you won't be able to see the crash, but you'll probably survive it. Brill! I'm not saying they haven't improved safety, but manufacturers design their cars to score well on the test, which doesn't necessarily mean much in the real world unless you like to drive head-on into barriers or be T-boned by a hydraulic ram. China will sort out getting good scores on the Euro NCAP when they come here "proper" - for now most tests seem to have been done independently (in at least one case funded by other manufacturers), by a prospective importer (Jiangling Landwind) or as a benchmark so they can resubmit it with improvements. They're on a learning curve and they'll figure it out. As for the dangerous crap, they'll continue selling that to Chinese skinflints and for export to the Middle East. Relax!

[Cavcraft]

I'd imagine even if we do get flooded by Chinese cars that if they really are awful then they won't last long selling them here. Anyhow there's not much car manafacturing going on in good old Blighty so why not have Chinese cars to go with European/Japanese/Korena/American stuff?

[ashmicro]

JLR is already in Asian hands, BTW.

 

Agree with the Japs improving stuff. Take the Mitsubishi Zero - a Focke-Wulf 190 "Evo" if you will.

[ChinaTom]

The last couple of posts sum it all up. You cannot blame Communism for a several hundred million reasons I won't go into.

 

That Deer is a SWB, so the chassis should be OK, and the interior is the third generation Deer. Mine is one before that one.

 

As some UK folk buy Myvi's and Gen-2's as they need a basic cheap form of transport, some Chinese folk (and me) buy the Deer as they want a cheap way of shifting stuff around. MUCH better pick-up trucks are available. That one looks honest. I'd have it.

[garycox]

Proton Gen-2

 

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

As some UK folk buy Myvi's and Gen-2's as they need a basic cheap form of transport, some Chinese folk (and me) buy the Deer as they want a cheap way of shifting stuff around. MUCH better pick-up trucks are available. That one looks honest. I'd have it.

 

Perodua and Proton sell and sold legitimate copies of Japanese cars though; not rough approximations with asbestos door cards, lead engines, mercury panels coated in depleted uranium, etc.

[ChinaTom]

No. My meaning was simply that people buy cars as they are the very cheapest possible way of getting somewhere the bus doesn't go to. Perodua really had one selling point - they are bloody cheap. Great Wall cater for these people, and sell a load to the local governments too for the "lining bridges with flowers and bunting" departments. The average citizen in China could have one of these with a 5 year bank loan. Many of you could have a new one with a month's salary.

[Lankytim]

JLR is already in Asian hands, BTW.

 

Agree with the Japs improving stuff. Take the Mitsubishi Zero - a Focke-Wulf 190 "Evo" if you will.

 

Didn't the Zero fly before the FW190? I recon the 190 was the better aircraft, too (although I have never been near, yet alone flown either of them)

[barrett]

I thought the Zero was basically a carbon-copy of a stillborn Hughes Aircraft design for the American Govt. that never got beyond the prototype stage?

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

No. My meaning was simply that people buy cars as they are the very cheapest possible way of getting somewhere the bus doesn't go to.

 

Sorry, I missed your point completely. If they were allowed to sell them here, cheaply, I'd probably buy one to be honest.

[Cavcraft]

The Myvi's Korean, isn't it (based on someone else's design of course).

 

And what's a Gen-2?

 

Are there any chinese cars being sold in the UK?

 

Aren't MG(F) owned by the Chinese now? Graham Walker in Chester are agents for them.