The Hongqi L5 is a large

retro style Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...

luxury car A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, amenities, quality, performance, and associated status compared to moderately priced cars. The term is subjective and reflects both the qualities of the car and the ...

produced by

Hongqi Hongqi (, Chinese for "Red Flag") may refer to: *Red Flag (magazine), ''Hongqi'' (magazine), published by the Chinese Communist Party from 1958 to 1988 *Hongqi (marque), Hongqi (automobile), luxury car series of First Automobile Works (FAW), Changc ...

whose design was inspired by the discontinued

Hongqi CA770 The Hongqi CA770 is a limousine produced by FAW Hongqi as the successor to the Hongqi CA72. The CA770 remained in production from 1966 until 1981 albeit in limited numbers. Built on a platform based on the Chrysler Imperial, around 1,600 of thes ...

, serving as Hongqi's flagship vehicle for the Chinese automotive market. It has a length of 5.555m, five being a lucky number in

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...

Overview

Released in 2013 at the

Shanghai Auto Show Auto Shanghai (), officially known as the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition (), is a biennial international automobile show that alternates with the Beijing Auto Show (Auto China) as China's yearly international automotive ...

, the L5 is renowned for currently being the most expensive Chinese-made car ever available for purchase, at CN¥5 million

Renminbi The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...

(US$800,000 UK£580,000). It is the

official state car An official state car is a vehicle used by a government to transport its head of state or head of government in an official capacity, which may also be used occasionally to transport other members of the government or visiting dignitaries from ot ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, as it is used by the

General Secretary of the Communist Party General Secretary or First Secretary is the official title of leaders of most communist parties. When a communist party is the ruling party in a Communist-led one-party state, the General Secretary is typically the country's ''de facto'' leader—th ...

(

Paramount leader Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often hol ...

)

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

. The sedan is currently offered only in China. The L5 has been exported to Belarus via donations, where it is used by the Belarusian military as a parade car, first being debuted at the 2015 Minsk Victory Day Parade. In 2016 Hongqi announced a V8 version of the L5, powered by a 4 litre twin-turbo V8 producing 381 horsepower with an eight-speed automatic. The 6 litre V12 model is designated as CA7600 and the V8 version as CA7400. The CA7400 was released in 2017.

Reception

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' an ...

reviewed the V12 L5, (referring to it as "the Hongqi" rather than the model name) during the "Chinese food for thought" episode of

The Grand Tour ''The Grand Tour'' is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman, made for Amazon exclusively for its online streaming service Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 Novembe ...

and, although critical of the performance—doubting the 3.2 tonne vehicle would make 60mph—and seating (also that the steering adjuster on the demo model was broken), stated " edidn't care about any of that, because it is just magnificent and evil—gloriously, brilliantly, evil", and that it was a "cartoon baddie's car".

References

* Glon, Ronan
"The most expensive Chinese car is a massive limousine with a retro look"
''Digital Trends'', December 5, 2016.

External links

Hongqi L5 information
{{FAW Group L5 Cars of China 2010s cars Limousines Retro-style automobiles Luxury vehicles Flagship vehicles Full-size vehicles Rear-wheel-drive vehicles All-wheel-drive vehicles