My name is Chen Kai Wei, I live in Guangdong Province, China (in the city of Shenzhen) I have been a daily reader of CC for over three years.
These photos were taken in the parking spaces at my local supermarket (RenRenLe) in ShuiWei Village. Villages in Shenzhen is not used in the same term as in a normal farming villages; they all have became part of the metropolis that is Shenzhen.
Here in Shenzhen we have quite a few CC from around the world, BOF American irons are not as rare as one might think in the US. On the other end of the spectrum, I once saw 1st gen Dodge Neon on the street!
During the 80-90s, the import tax was very high in China, and it was close to impossible to send money out of China at the time. When these CCs came to China, they were extremely expensive (maybe 4-5 times the cost of US MSRP). A lot of them were even smuggled into China. They were really a status symbol, more so than a brand new AMG S class today! Today however they cost about 4000-5000 USD to buy, but getting tags for them is difficult, specially in the city. China has a policy of not renewing rags for cars that are 15 years old.
The lime green Towncar has a plate from Guangxi province, city of Hezhou; the Regal (Chinese-built, I assume – Ed) has a local Shenzhen plate.
The Avalon had Guangdong capital Guangzhou plates.
The BMW is local Shenzhen.
Thank you for the great work at CC, it keeps a CC guy like myself fresh everyday, with CCs (kind of ironic), thanks again!
Welcome! I’m looking forward to more of your contributions. Living in a part of the United States where this generation Town Car is still in garages (sheltering from considerable snow and wind today) just a few blocks from my home, I’d never figure a few of these are roaming the streets of China.
These are reasonably durable and beloved automobiles. Despite the color, it is nice to see one serving as an ambassador on the other side of the world. It would be interesting to know the history of this car, it was probably serving a 50 something U.S. citizen somewhere in the U.S. at one time. Who knew 20 years ago it would end up in this circumstance?
Interesting! I look forward to hearing more about the Chinese car scene- I don’t know much about it at all
Thanks for the post, Chen Kai Wei! It’s really interesting to read about how some of these CCs made their way out to China.
Thank you for this! Seeing cars outside the areas one would expect to find them is always welcome.
Here’s an interesting one about the Lincoln. Hong Qi (if I’m spelling that correctly) makes (or made) a version of the Lincoln Town Car. This is from wiki and is the 1998 and up generation.
Holy headlight glaze, Batman!
(but cool in a Bizarro-world kind of way)
Great to see CC’s from China. Interesting about the 15 year old registration rule. Understandable from a pollution standpoint. I believe the A2 Jetta’s were produced in China until around 2013. It makes it easy for me to get affordable parts for my old 86 Jetta. Hope to see more CCC’s in the future.
Yes, indeed. A2 Jetta and Santana hangs around for quite a while in China. And the design underwent too many overhauls with even modern OBD, but basic parts should be interchangeable though.
Any one else spot the Cadillac crest on the wire wheel cover?
The 1951 Ford V8 emblem is cool too….
Thank you for this look around the streets of Shenzhen! Never having been to anywhere in China yet, I enjoyed this look at the CC-type cars of your city. If I am ever there, and that bright green Lincoln is anywhere within 100 meters, I will probably spot it and recognize it immediately!
Perhaps you can help to resolve a spirited debate that occurred here several months ago. When I posted an article about American cars in pre-Communist China, there was some debate about whether two cars in a museum in Shanghai were real or fiberglass copies. Maybe you have visited the museum or know someone who has, who can say whether the cars were real.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cc-global/cc-global-american-cars-in-pre-communist-china-the-east-is-red-white-blue/
Interesting – thank you for sharing.
Thanks, Chen! Keep the pictures coming. Good to know we have someone interested in showing us CC’s in China!
I’m surprised that many of these cars are the same exact ones you would find in an American supermarket parking lot. In the background, I see a Honda Accord, Civic, two CR-Vs, a Kia Optima, Mini Cooper, Volkswagen Jetta,.. what’s the black car in front of the TC in the first pic? It looks kinda like a ’06-’10 Hyundai Elantra to me, but I can’t make out the badge.
The scenery is really interesting too – like a movie set ’80s-futuristic version of Los Angeles. Cool stuff… I’d love to see more cars from China!
The black car appears to be a Chinese make. It looks vaguely like a BYD badge (BYD is based in Shenzen), but I can’t find a model to match, on their wiki at least. Maybe someone who knows more about Chinese cars can chime in.
This is where BYD is based? I saw one in the U.S. last year!
Do you ever see these, Chen? I heard they’re only slightly more popular in China than they are here (where they’re practically nonexistent). I was extremely excited to spot it, they’re the first Chinese car imported into the country:
There are couples more around Michigan as test cars, and I bet those cars don’t appreciate the road salt here
Interesting when my sister and BIL toured China they said everything in the cities looked brand new including the cars,(BIL has been in the motor industry all his working life) glad to see a few CCs getting around over there.
Very nice collection! Thanks for sharing some CCs from your neck of the woods!
Excellent! More, please!
The gold leaf on the Town Car reminds me of old lacquer-box decorations. It’s not a pattern you’d see in North America.
Welcome aboard, Chen… Nice to see good ole American steel being appreciated and enjoyed by one of your fellow citizens.
Awesome, field reporting, my friend. I plan on doing the same when I go to the Philippines in a few years… The old school Japanese car scene is phenomenal, from what I’ve seen on the forums I frequent.
I’ve been to China many times including Shenzhen but don’t recall every seeing a Lincoln Town Car. It’s certainly great to get a local’s perspective. The first few times the streets were filled with mostly VW Santana’s and Jeep Cherokees; those then got slowly overtaken by Buicks and Hyundais. And of course black Audis with government plates.
Did anyone notice the fallout from the smog on the cars?
A coworker visited China not long ago & told me that drivers there are so frugal with gas, they’ll shut off & coast downhill when possible. Anyone else observe this?
Also interesting that the continental kit on the Lincoln has a Cadillac crest! I guess you have to take what you can get when dealing with accessories for rare imported cars…
Nice to get a glimpse into what automotive scenery is like in Chinese cities. Regarding the 15 year rule–how might the green Lincoln have skirted the rule so far? That’s a 1995-97 model, so at the newest it’s 18 years old. Are there loopholes in the rules, or is it a matter of knowing someone who will “look the other way”?
Very interesting to see CCs from China! A question, how do you tell the city of registration from the plates?
Also, is the 15 year old rule only for big cities, or anywhere?