China’s red flag looks to the past for inspiration

At this year’s Shanghai Motor Show, there were no shortage concepts in many different segments, but few were as impressive as the Hongqi L-Concept. The brand itself (pronounced Hong-Chi) may not be a household name in the US, but it’s one of the oldest in China, dating back to the 1950s as a luxury brand of Beijing’s First Automotive Works (FAW). And the concept shown in Shanghai this year is a recall to one of the brand’s earliest and most memorable luxury cars.

During its appearance in Shanghai, relatively little was said about the concept sedan, which has no steering wheel at all, one seat in the front and two seats in the back. The reason for such an arrangement is, of course, that the passenger compartment in the right rear seat can be stretched out like in a personal limousine. The profile of the L-Concept also looked more like a fastback: a contrasting white roof extends to the trunk and features a diamond-shaped pattern above the rear window. The diamond-shaped pattern continues at the front, falling down from the headlights and extending to the front spoiler, making the front fascia look a bit like a spider web.

It’s safe to say that the 2021 Hongqi L-Concept was more about design than anything and was promised to preview a future sedan model that could arrive as early as 2023. As a design exercise, however, the Hongqi, or the Red Flag, is one of the few Chinese concept cars capable of nodding to cars that are actually decades old – namely the CA72.

The CA72 was the first handcrafted Chinese sedan to see a significant production run.

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This Chinese sedan was practically the country’s first modern luxury sedan in the post-war period. It debuted in 1958, just five years after First Automotive Works (FAW) was founded.

“Believe it or not, top management had to rely on a mix of Russian and American cars until the CA72 arrived,” says Yaroslav, an expert on Eastern Bloc cars. “First Automotive Works was making versions of Russian trucks at the time, which was one of the reasons it was founded. However, the first passenger car was mainly based on the Simca Vedette and the Mercedes-Benz W120 CA71 and it had a roughly European look with an egg crate grille, flat sides and a bubble-like roof. The CA71, as you can imagine, was fairly handcrafted, but only a handful were made. It wasn’t a very large car, more of a sedan than a proper sedan, and after a few samples were made, it hasn’t really caught on. Only a few of them are left. But the following car was designed differently and was able to prevail over the top leadership of the country. “

On its debut, the CA72 took on a larger footprint and more expansive layout that was closer to the American and Russian sedans of the time. However, the design came closer to a specific Russian car, namely the GAZ 21.

The CA72 mixed Russian and American design influences, as did the Packard-style GAZ 13 Chaika at the time.

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“The CA72 was launched in 1958 and was pretty much the first of two Chinese luxury cars, the other was the CB4 in Beijing,” Jaroslaw told Autoweek. “The GAZ 21 had been on the road for a few years by then, and the CA72 came out a few years later, so the resemblance was very noticeable. The GAZ 21 itself was modeled after the Ford mainline, but introduced some of its own design details that we saw later on the CA72. “

While the design of the CA72 was a mix of Russian and American design influences, the engines were definitely American, with Chrysler’s 331 cubic inch Hemi V8 powering the large sedan. That was definitely not what the GAZ 21 had, but it’s worth noting that the CA72 was quite a bit larger than the GAZ and was intended as a personal luxury sedan.

“The profile of the CA72 was more like that of a Chaika,” adds Jaroslaw. “One of the main differences was that the rear taillights were narrow and vertical and more American and the rear also had a row of horizontal chrome slats. We see that in this year’s Shanghai concept too.”

This year’s Hongqi concept incorporates a number of design elements inspired by the CA72, including horizontal louvers along the rear of the original that have been reworked here into taillights.

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A few years ago, Autoweek had the opportunity to see a CA72 in a car museum in Shanghai. The example in these photos is from 1959. The scale of the car was far more imposing than that of the GAZ 21, some examples of what we’ve seen in the States, with shabbier sides and a higher sill line. The long limo had suicide doors, almost the only element breaking the sides open was the long chrome strip that began on the front doors.

“The scale of the CA72 is certainly more like Chaika,” says Jaroslaw, referring to the GAZ 13 with a V8 engine. “The Chaika followed Packard’s designs pretty closely, and we can see that in the profile of the CA72. But the front is more Volga-like. Outwardly, the CA72 is just a little more compact than the Chaika, which also had a V8 itself and an automatic transmission. “

Production of the CA72 continued until about 1965 when it evolved into the CA770, which was an evolution of the design, introducing some visual updates and adopting straight lines but maintaining the look of the front bezel. The sedan also held Chrysler V8 Power Underhood and remained in production until 1981.

The design of the CA72 resembled a Russian car that was popular at the time: the GAZ 21 Volga. The CA72 was a few sizes larger.

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“It’s worth noting that the CA770 and the Chaika went out of production around the same time, and they were really, really past their prime at that point from a design standpoint, too,” says Jaroslaw. “These were essentially 1950s cars that happened to be around well into the 1980s. The Hongqi brand was disrupted around that time, while the GAZ 13 Chaika was replaced by a more modern GAZ 14. But both the CA770 and Amazingly, the old Chaika also remained in production until 1981. “

Where are these cars today?

Quite a few were simply used up, and the Hongqi CA72 and CA770 sedans collected many kilometers. After that, they were simply replaced with newer examples and newer cars, so little effort was put into preserving them unless they ended up in a factory museum early. Restorations have rarely been attempted because collecting cars in China was in its infancy until about 20 years ago and in some ways still exists today. This means that until relatively recently, no real effort has been made to find and restore older examples of Hongqi.

“Unless they landed in a museum early, these cars pretty much drove into the ground,” comments Jaroslaw. “Either that, or if they were lucky they weren’t used much and just sat around in a government garage far away. Those are pretty much the cars we see in museums today, and they’re really the only ones that survived. Everything else was used up. “

The surviving examples of these limousines are now virtually all in museums, and every few years a dusty example is pulled out of a government garage. However, some are in private collections.

Two years ago, two CA770 sedans drove onto the lawn in Pebble Beach that owner Zongmin “Jason” Huang brought with him for her US Concours debut. Jay Leno also took a spin in one of the limousines.

However, Hongqi is not a brand of the past, even if it has the deepest history any current car brands in China can draw upon. The brand looks to the future with an extensive selection of cars that can now be bought by China’s middle class, not just the political elite.

Tell us what you think Chinese concept and its design homage in the comments below.

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