Car nuts will appreciate these photographs from Taiwan that I have already put on my hard drive.
The first is of a Ssangyong Chairman, a car based on an old Mercedes E-Klasse platform (kind of how the Chrysler 300 came into being). However, the owner of this one has decided to add three-pointed stars front and rear to feel like he’s driving around in a German, and not Korean, car. I have to say that for non-car buffs, this would be pretty convincing.
Taiwan, like Red China, is home to many Buicks, but the ones here tend to be the same as the US-market ones (with the exception of the Daewoo-based Excelle, which is not very popular). I saw plenty of old Regals, Park Avenues and even a Rendezvous. Ford is probably the most popular American brand; GM, even through Daewoo, Opel and Saab, is thin on the ground in Taiwan.
A case in point: the Ford Escape is a popular SUV and outnumbers its twin, the Mazda Tribute. As Chinese car watchers know, the trim on these Escapes differs from the ones sold in the US. This one is in the Alishan, used as a police cruiser.
In town, there were Ford Mondeo Metrostars. These are the Chinese-made versions, with a different front end, though the rest of the car is identical to the CD132s that had been made in Genk (the CD345 has launched, but I saw none on the streets). A few were used as police cars, along with Toyotas, Nissans, Mitsubishis and Daewoos.
As expected, Japan dominates the car market, though there are some oddball vehicles here. The Subaru Tutto is based on the old Justy and since sedans are favoured by Chinese buyers, the company concocted this one for the local market. It’s still a hatchback, but features a small bustle,
à la Volvo 345 or Ford Escort Mk III.
Given that Japanese cars are so prevalent, I was surprised to see a Volvo S40 in the countryside. It looked pretty good at this angle. Then I saw how it was souped up by its owner with garish wheels and a spoiler. For something that is basically a Ford Focus, the mods were optimistic.
More as I download the pics and put them into themes.
