This is an easy question. I live in Beijing (but drive an American car) and see locally produced cars on a daily basis, and witness the rapid evolution of styles and features.
Just a few years ago when the cars were clones or slightly better than the Tata Nano (e.g. BYD F0) until now they are of higher quality, unique styling (though I don’t care about that). styling) and much more efficient (by a friend who just bought a BYD Yuan Plus and they raved about it), the local automakers have really started their game.
All that being said, I’m pretty old-fashioned by nature, and if I could only pick one out of the ridiculous amount of cars China makes, it would be the Hong Qi L5. I rarely see them on the street but they appeal to my American aesthetic, of a big car that can comfortably go miles. Some elegant mods make things even better.
Like this one I saw at the auto show a few years ago in Beijing.
If not this then the original old one is fine, however, I think it will need a lot of maintenance as they are basically all handcrafted during the cultural revolution and the few I see usually not running or in need of repair.
Finally, I have a friend whose husband works for the US Embassy, during his stay he rebuilt a Beijing 4X4 (not Jeep, but we just call it Beijing Jeeps, now) come to think of it, don’t know his real name… ) and brought it back to the states with him.
You might be thinking to yourself, “Hey, isn’t Hongqi already on the list? That idiot just booked the same car here twice.” But while I may be a stupid idiot, I haven’t actually booked the same car here twice. The front of the L5 looks like the front of the CA770. You know, Chinese automakers are also allowed to have something classic.
