| Author | Message | ||
     Richard Treacy Grand Master Username: richard_treacy Post Number: 721 Registered: 4-2003 |
Look what popped up at the Shanghai Motor Show. Looks like a Phantom...  But, then again !  | ||
| Robert Wort Grand Master Username: robert_wort Post Number: 197 Registered: 12-2004 |
So that's what happens when you mate a Packard with a Rolls-Royce! A scalloped radiator shell. Wonder if BMW's legal dept. is looking?  | ||
| Gordon Norris Prolific User Username: crewes_missile Post Number: 156 Registered: 2-2005 |
Ah so...is made by ancient Chinese company Worrs Woyse...just coincidence rooks rike dat uver inferior car fwom BMdubroo...and we spell it Fanntum...compretry diffrent car...honest...you rike to buy John?  GN. PS: Legal Disclaimer: No offence meant to any readers of Chinese origin or descent..comments purely intended as humorous satire..Any similarity to any persons or Rolls Royces living or dead is purely coincidental.. | ||
| Gordon Norris Prolific User Username: crewes_missile Post Number: 159 Registered: 2-2005 |
As Richard has failed to put us out of our misery about the true background of this...er...this...um thingy that is supposed to be a car, here is the press release: First Automotive Works' concept car Hong Qi is a Rolls Royce Phantom look-a-like limousine. Unlike its prestigious competitor, the Hong Qi (Chinese for Red Flag) is ostentatious and kitsch targeting the 'top managers of state' says Chang Bing, Senior Designer of the 15-strong design team at First Auto's design studio in Changchun, north of Beijing. Massively decorated with chrome and VIP touches there is one particular design element that maybe points a finger towards how the future of design may look for China. For First Auto, being the top car manufacturer in China has its connotations and their concept car Hong Qi was designed to be their flagship vehicle, thus the treatment of the grill is very important. Shaped like a building with the typical ornate roof tops in China, the grill also sports a red flag graphic that flows into the hood of the car. Strength and being established are two important factors when considering who to buy your car from here, in two years time! Here is a rear pic also:  and another from the front:  I've ordered two..quick swap with a RR grill and Bob's yer uncle... GN. | ||
| Robert Wort Grand Master Username: robert_wort Post Number: 199 Registered: 12-2004 |
Not at all capitalist is it?  What would have Chairman Mao thought? | ||
| Gordon Norris Prolific User Username: crewes_missile Post Number: 163 Registered: 2-2005 |
Notice no mention of the powerplant or drive-train? That's because it is eco-friendly: under the bonnet are 4pairs of seats each with pedals linked by chains to the rear axle....  GN. | ||
| Glenn Amer New User Username: recordo Post Number: 4 Registered: 4-2005 |
Hello there: Gordon your comments about "Worrs Woyce" aren't far off - In China (where I have lived - I first saw the new Phantom there last year at the magnificent Peking dealership), they are called phonetically, "Laus-e Li-ce". (My wife's Chinese, and that's really how they say it...). By the way, the number plate on the ersatz Phantom above reads "Dee-Eee-Chi-Chur" which means "Number One Car" according to my wife. Speaking of my wife, she hasn't ever really been impressed about the 38 year old Shadow in my garage, but when we had a Cadillac hire car in Shanghai last year in the middle of summer and it's a/c didn't work, the boss of the company said (after our complaint) "well what do you expect from a fifteen year old car?" and my wife shot back with "well the air works in our 38 year old RR!" Don't forget that someone from China ordered 6 cars from Rolls Royce in 1951. Unfortunately the person is un-named...but it does work out to one RR for every 167 million Chinese (in 1984). This info taken from "RR - The Complete Works, the best 599 RR Stories" by Mike Fox and Steve Smith, Faber and Faber, 1984. best regards, Glenn | ||
| Gordon Norris Prolific User Username: crewes_missile Post Number: 164 Registered: 2-2005 |
Glenn, I have the best 599 RR Stories book myself-makes amusing and fascinating reading doesn't it? Top marks to your wife for her quick retort on the Cadillac! With the rapid industrialisation in China, and planned expansion of their car industry, alot of observers are saying it will be a repeat of the Japanese car invasion of the West in the 60's and 70's, except faster and more comprehensive. If they can get some quality control to match the Japs, Western and Japanese car manufacturers will face serious difficulties competing on price. On the other hand, they may well farm out their car manufacturing to China as has occurred in the fashion, electronics, and most other industries. It would be interesting to know what really lurked under the bonnet of this car though... Cheers, GN. | ||
| Bill Coburn Grand Master Username: bill_coburn Post Number: 398 Registered: 4-2003 |
One of the better kept secrets I am assured is that none other than Chairman Mao was indeed the owner/user/possessor of a new Silver Shadow. | ||
| Larry Halpert Prolific User Username: larry_halpert Post Number: 65 Registered: 9-2003 |
Hong Qi also was a term adapted into the chinese language in the pre-politically correct 70's as a euphemism for "white people". Larry | ||
| Bill Coburn Grand Master Username: bill_coburn Post Number: 406 Registered: 4-2003 |
How very interesting Larry. Honky which I have often wondered about its origin is of course part of the Afro-American patois and refers to white people. Don't know whether it is now politically correct or not in North America. The word 'nigger'is I understand coming back into use in a comrade like way which is nice as it derives from negro and its various antecedents meaning black - quite simple really. Poor little Sambo with those tigers and the ghee have not been the same since the political word-washers got at him. |
