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After the Shanghai Auto Show, the self-owned brand was in full swing, but even if the sales volume was inconclusive and the design concept was difficult to distinguish, the most influential self-owned brand in the hearts of the people of the whole country had already belonged, that is, the red flag.
The history of the Red Flag is almost synchronized with the history of New China. Every beloved national leader and every historical event that shocked the whole world has an inseparable intersection with the Red Flag.
But behind the glory, almost no one knows that the People’s Daily has issued a notice: "Hongqi brand limousine will stop production from June this year because of its high fuel consumption."
However, under the prestigious reputation, few people paid attention to Hongqi until December 2016, when it first achieved monthly sales of thousands, reaching 1,001 vehicles.
Started in Sri Lanka, prospered in Sri Lanka, rose and fell in Sri Lanka, and wanted to revive in Sri Lanka.
In that era of concentrated efforts to do great things, many great projects could not be separated from the will of the supreme leader.
Three months after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Chairman Mao visited the Soviet Union, and the Soviet side decided to build a truck factory in China, which is the predecessor of the first automobile factory-now FAW. In 1953, the foundation stone was laid for the construction of FAW Plant, which was completed and put into operation in 1956, and the first car of new China, Jiefang brand truck, was built, which shocked the world.
In April, 1956, Chairman Mao mentioned at the meeting on "Ten Major Relationships" in the Political Bureau of the Central Committee: "It would be nice if we could sit in a car made by ourselves for the meeting!"
In April, 1957, Huang Jing, Minister of the First Ministry of Machinery Industry, went to FAW for investigation, and formally put forward a request for trial production of cars to FAW. The starting policy is "imitation first, independent design", and said "which car do you like, I will be responsible for your deployment".
At that time, a few domestic models of the same class, such as the victory of the Soviet Union, Renault of France, Skoda 440 of Czech Republic, Mercedes-Benz 190 of Germany, Zepher of Ford of the United States, Vedette of simca of France, Toyota of Japan, were assembled in the factory building of FAW.
The Prototype of Dongfeng Car —— Vedette, simca
After selecting the best from the best, FAW thinks that the shape of simca Vedette is more in line with the aesthetics of Chinese people, while the mechanical performance of Mercedes-Benz 190 is better. For these two models, reverse engineering is carried out to study the core technologies.
In appearance, it is designed by itself. A golden dragon is arranged in the front of the car, which represents the soaring of the Chinese nation. The taillights are modeled by traditional palace lanterns, and the gearbox is also designed by itself.
More than half a year’s technical research and modeling design are omitted. On February 13, 1958, President Mao Zedong visited FAW and asked again, "When can I get on my own car?"
Chairman Mao inspected FAW
FAW didn’t keep Chairman Mao waiting too long. The grand labor occasion in April 1958 was called "the east wind of the whole factory" by later generations. Almost all FAW people devoted themselves to the formal production of the first car in China day and night, and it took less than a month. At 5: 30 am on May 12 of the same year, the first car made in China was completed.
The first "DONG FENG" has been made, so pay attention to the Chinese pinyin of "Dong Feng".
The reason why the word "off-line" is not used is because the whole vehicle is completely knocked out by hand. The car was immediately sent to Beijing, and everywhere it went was full of joy. Reading this history still makes people feel excited.
There is also an episode here. Originally, the Chinese pinyin of "DONG FENG" was placed on the front of the car. Yang Shangkun, then director of the General Office of the Central Committee, said, "I thought it was a foreign car if I didn’t understand it."
Faw comrades felt very reasonable, and changed the front of the car to the word "Dongfeng" overnight. This comrade who took the lead in changing words was Li Lanqing who would become The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) in the future.
As for why it was called the east wind, it was because of an important situation analysis of Chairman Mao at that time: either the east wind overwhelmed the west wind or the west wind overwhelmed the east wind. I think the current situation is characterized by the east wind overwhelming the west wind, that is to say, the forces of socialism have an overwhelming advantage over the forces of imperialism.
?Chairman Mao tried to ride the first domestic car, and noticed that the front sign had been changed to the Chinese character "Dongfeng".
On May 21, Chairman Mao happily tried this "Dongfeng". After running twice, Chairman Mao said happily, "I took the car made by ourselves!"
After the prototype returned to the factory, the whole factory was excited, and they all planned to work hard. But at this time, it was reported that Beijing Automobile Factory was going to make a limousine as a gift for the 10th anniversary of the National Day. FAW people felt that as the eldest son of the Republic, the first limousine should have come from FAW.
"Dongfeng" model, interested friends can see the real car in Beijing Automobile Museum.
So "take the east wind and display the red flag, and Bayi took out the limousine to see Chairman Mao!" The banner was hung in the factory, people’s passion was ignited again, and the new limousine was named "Red Flag".
Pay attention to the banner hanging at the back of FAW Factory when starting the Red Flag Project.
Deciding to make a red flag will cost a lot. Because of the resources, personnel and ability, especially the ability of spare parts, the production of red flag will stop the production of Dongfeng cars, and at the same time, it will occupy the production capacity of Jiefang trucks to a certain extent.
In view of the all-round changes in vehicle grades and sizes, Hongqi can no longer learn from the previous small and medium-sized models, and a Chrysler Empire purchased before has become a new reference prototype.
Chrysler Empire, 1956.
In order to see more vehicles, the employees of FAW chatted with the drivers at the entrance of Indonesian Embassy in Beijing, saying that they were going to build cars in China. The drivers were very excited and took the initiative to drive all kinds of imported cars aside for FAW workers to take pictures.
Don’t think that "reverse research" is a contemptible thing. Not only did the automobile industry in all countries go through this step at the beginning, but more importantly, the automobile elites in China conquered a lot of things that the Soviet Union, Europe and Japan failed to do at that time in the development of Red Flag.
For example, the hydraulic tappet of V8 engine, such as hydraulic automatic transmission and other core technologies, have been broken by Chinese automobile workers with wisdom, and are generally world-leading.
Perhaps the numbers can better prove the greatness of the project: the first generation of Red Flag has 4,657 kinds of parts, including 3,488 kinds made in China. FAW added 250 sets of special equipment and 9,629 sets of tooling, and more than 20,000 employees enthusiastically devoted themselves to selfless work.
According to the initial estimate of working hours, the research and development of the first generation of Hongqi will take three years. After the project was established in April 1959, FAW took out the first prototype on August 1, and officially completed the project in September, and the level of the whole vehicle was extremely high, which is a miracle.
The design concept of this prototype is still highly artistic. The front grille uses the traditional folding fan shape, and the turn signal decorative plates in plum blossom window format are matched with both sides. The bumper anti-collision cone adopts the cloud head shape that is common in ancient buildings. Of course, the five red flags symbolizing "workers, peasants, businessmen and soldiers" on the engine compartment cover are the key.
The production of the first red flag is completed.
Perhaps many commercial history will be touched by the word "successful development", but it is hard to imagine the efforts made by FAW people in overcoming the technical barrier. According to the memories of the witnesses, even at the celebration of the first generation of Red Flag, the problems such as transmission oil leakage and starter tooth punching have not been solved, and they were all completed in the process of opening and repairing.
荣耀终将属于红旗，1959 年 9 月起，一汽完成了 36 部红旗车，送到北京向建国 10 周年献礼，一时“北京尽是红旗车”，9 月 29 日，中央领导们参观了红旗车，表示非常振奋。
1959 年国庆，红旗在天安门广场献礼
如果仔细看这时的红旗车的话，你会发现他和你印象中的红旗并不完全一致，这时因为此时的型号为 CA72，C 代表中国，A 代表汽车，7 代表轿车，2 代表第二款（东风为 CA71），总共生产了 206 辆。
1960 年，红旗 CA72 参加了莱比锡国际博览会和日内瓦展览会，让中国汽车业一举成名，随后被编入《世界汽车年鉴》，中国红旗成为一个现象。
红旗飘扬的序章就此开始。
这一篇章，全部属于“大红旗”。
几年的使用中，CA72 过重、过高的问题逐渐显现出来，同时因为中苏关系交恶，毛主席等中央领导乘坐的苏联吉斯 115、110 等三排座车型得不到配件维护，再加上提升国家形象的目的，国家要求一汽展开新一代三排座红旗的研发。
Soviet gith 115 bulletproof vehicle
The purpose of the third row is, on the one hand, to facilitate the travel of the leaders, interpreters, secretaries and other accompanying personnel, and on the other hand, to set a glass wall behind the driver to meet the privacy needs of foreign guests when they visit.
This generation of red flag, the first time to adopt forward research and development, is completely up to the top level in the world in terms of chassis structure, engine design and appearance. FAW bought a Rolls Royce from Hong Kong for reference.
There is also an interesting story. As the foreign minister, Mr. Chen Yi owns a Mercedes-Benz 600, which is regarded as a treasure. As a result, because all Beijing knows that it is Chen Yi’s car, once he accompanied foreign guests to eat Quanjude at the front door, enthusiastic people saw the car and wanted to see Chen Yi. Mr. Chen was able to get away from it through the back door, and then donated the car to FAW.
Boss Chen Yi’s Mercedes 600 Pullman
The new big red flag code CA770 is also used in the research and development of this generation of cars, including design scheme competition, wind tunnel testing, modeling sludge and other technologies that are needed when designing cars now.
In order to improve the quality and safety of the vehicle, many parts have adopted double backup. For example, the braking system of the whole vehicle is double pipeline, double booster and double cylinder. Even if one set fails, all four wheels still have brakes.
In September 1965, the first CA770 was produced, and it took only seven months for FAW to get the approval from the central government and start batch delivery. In April 1966, 20 CA770 s were delivered to the central government and became the leading cars.
During the whole life cycle, CA770 has produced 1510 sets, which is the most produced one in the Dahongqi series.
Of course, in the production process, FAW was not idle. In October 1965, FAW received an unfinished task: producing bulletproof insurance cars.
The design requirements are very clear. The shape must be consistent with that of CA770 to ensure that the whereabouts of the central leaders are not exposed. The whole vehicle must be able to withstand the explosion of machine guns and mines and continue driving. The speed must exceed 100km/h, and it can climb a 13-degree slope without shifting gears.
The armor and glass parts of the whole vehicle are provided by the military, and FAW is responsible for the design of the car body. When the protective equipment arrives, it is found that the whole vehicle weighs 5.5 tons. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that it can rush up the slope without shifting gears. The original 220 horsepower engine is definitely not enough.
At that time, the engine designer of FAW, unable to get foreign technical assistance and the traditional teaching knowledge was no longer feasible, invented a method to improve the horsepower by himself, and lifted the V8 engine to 300 horsepower in one fell swoop, which was a great relief.
This type of bullet-proof insurance car was finally finalized as CA772. The first car was supposed to be presented to Chairman Mao, but it was given to Lin Biao for a trial ride for fear of quality problems. With the gradual improvement, the sixth car was given to Premier Zhou.
On September 13, 1972, Chairman Mao finally got on the No.7 car of CA772. It took 16 years from Chairman Mao’s call to build a car to sitting on the domestic red flag for a long time.
In the same year, US President Nixon visited China. As an advance team, US Secretary of Defense Haig asked for an armored car to be airlifted. Premier Zhou said, "No need, China has its own armored car." So since landing in Shanghai, Nixon’s car has become a CA772, and there have been many international reports.
When Nixon visited China, he visited the Forbidden City and paid attention to the spectacular red flag motorcade behind him.
From then on, seeing Chairman Mao, living in Diaoyutai and riding a red-flag bus have become the three most coveted treatments for foreign politicians to come to China.
The data of CA772 has not been completely decrypted so far, and there are still four left in Zhongnanhai.
Why did the number jump directly from CA770 to CA772? This is because as the name of the red flag is getting louder and louder, leaders at all levels in the country hope to get on domestic cars, so FAW has successively developed the CA771 which has been shortened to two rows and the CA773 which is still three rows but has removed many luxurious configurations.
CA771, double row seat
CA773, short three rows of seats
Looking at the red flag map of this time, you will be impressed by the arrangement and combination of vehicle configuration and the speed of designing and building cars.
It is cold in winter in Beijing, and the heads of state at home and abroad will be blown by the cold wind if they stand behind the car, so the review car CA770J with a high glass behind the driver was developed.
CA770J (Image from CarNewsChina.com)
Nixon needed an ambulance for his visit to China. Considering that the traditional ambulance was too obvious and unlucky, he developed a red flag ambulance almost the same as CA 770.
Later, the ambulance was widely praised, and the CA770W station wagon ambulance was distributed to the Union Medical College Hospital.
In order to test the non-loaded body and new chassis technology, CA774 test vehicle was developed.
CA774
The "No.1 Engineering Vehicle" developed in 1977 was specially designed to complete the task of transporting the hearse in Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, and it has technological innovations in privacy and temperature control.
The big red flag of CA770 generation, like the standard photo of the red flag family, has become the deepest image memory of several generations of China people for the red flag. For the post-80s and 90s generation, the journey of the classic red flag was missed before they were born.
To say that the most unfortunate thing in the world is that the red flag has experienced ten years of turmoil.
After several tossing, the technical iteration of China’s automobile industry can no longer keep pace with foreign countries. After the door of the market was opened, everyone found that there were so many kinds of imported cars, so advanced in technology and so cheap at the same time.
In 1980, CA770 was discontinued. In 1981, the scene where this article started appeared: On May 14th, People’s Daily published the instructions of the State Council to save electricity and fuel. Among them, there are 23 words "Hongqi brand limousine stopped production from June this year due to high fuel consumption".
It is worth mentioning that many people don’t know that Hongqi has also done a "sideline" during this period, and began to launch a series of coaches. The two coaches, CA630 and CA640, have been well received by various units and become a good ride platform with both grade and quality at that time.
?CA630
The 19-seat layout, individually adjustable seats, solid wood decoration and air conditioning make this car the first choice for enterprises and institutions to travel.
CA640
On the basis of these two cars, public security, environmental protection, photoelectricity, fire fighting and other units have developed the corresponding broadcast vehicles and command vehicles. However, it is puzzling why this car didn’t last, so that it is now robbed by Kauste.
The total output of 1166 vehicles was very successful under the red flag brand in that era.
In 1984, the Hongqi sedan, which had been discontinued for three years, was given the task of designing a parade vehicle for Deng Xiaoping, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the National Day. This opportunity, let FAW people focus their thoughts and creativity on generate because of the suspension of production of the red flag.
Under the trend at that time, the inspection car can not only change the ceiling into a convertible, on the one hand, it needs to add a set of hydraulic lifting equipment to make the inspectors more majestic. On the other hand, the foldable soft top must have a certain bulletproof effect and can be completely stored in the car body during the inspection.
From materials, structure to power, FAW people have achieved more than 100 technological innovations, and finally left the most shocking military parade mark in the history of the Republic.
Taking this as an opportunity, FAW people also called on Hongqi to resume production on many occasions, and the final conclusion was yes, but it should refer to international advanced products.
Thus, in 1985, Hongqi successively produced the CA750 two-row prototype and CA 760 three-row prototype, which were based on the technology of Nissan in Japan at that time. It can be said that the starting point of the hybridization between Hongqi and various brands was here. In 1987, hongqi trial-produced CA770D, which was also not finalized.
From left to right, there are CA750, CA760 and CA770. Even the red flag official website has only released three blurred pictures.
Then, something happened in the history of China’s automobile that deserves a great book and even laid the brand structure of China’s automobile market in the next few decades.
In 1984, FAW bought an American Chrysler 488 engine production line, which was mainly used for trucks, and later found that it could also be used in cars, so FAW proposed to Chrysler to buy another Dodge 600 vehicle production line.
Dodge 600, if it had been bought in those years, the whole history of Chinese automobile would have to be rewritten.
As a result, Iacocca, then president of Chrysler, saw the opportunity, and the asking price of $18 million was not negotiable. For a production line that was close to elimination, it was a lion’s mouth.
No way, FAW tried to introduce Toyota’s technology. It is said that the Japanese side was worried that the growth of China’s automobile industry would affect the sales of Japanese brands, and it also refused.
Until 1987, Dr. Hahn, the head of German Volkswagen, visited China. After hearing the news, he immediately said that he could use the body of Audi 100 to help FAW adapt to Chrysler’s engine.
Everyone is familiar with the Audi 100.
This decision directly contributed to Audi becoming the mainstream of official cars in China, and also contributed to Volkswagen becoming the first brand of joint venture in China. The regretful Chrysler reduced the production line of Dodge 600 to $1, but so far it has failed to gain a foothold in the China market.
Speaking of red flags. This product, which is a hybrid of American engine and German body, can no longer bear the name of Audi. For the sake of brand positioning and sales promotion, FAW decided to launch the "Red Flag" brand.
In August, 1991, this car finally rolled off the production line, with the finalize the design number of CA 7220, known as Little Red Flag. By the end of 1997, this car had sold nearly 28,000 vehicles, achieving a profit of 6.6 billion yuan, becoming the most profitable model of Hongqi since its establishment.
Of course, from the beginning of this car, Hongqi started the face-lifting sales model with almost no change, which attracted much more criticism than the positive impact of economic profit.
In 1998, with the 50th anniversary of the National Day approaching in anniversary, Hongqi produced CA7460 on the basis of Lincoln City in the United States. It was named "Hongqi Flagship" without any change in appearance and interior, and its price reached a staggering 680,000 yuan. The market performance was extremely bleak.
In 1999, Red Flag launched a three-row red flag flagship, which was also a simple extension of the Lincoln model. The price was close to one million, which was worrying for a while. Is it that our leaders will parade on such a red flag on National Day?
As a result, General Secretary Jiang Zemin completed the National Day military parade on the revision of the old red flag review car in 1984. When people miss the grandeur of the old red flag, they also lament the status quo of the red flag.
From 2000 to 2005, the red flag was modeled after Audi 200.
In 2005, Hongqi launched the HQ3 model, which looks exactly like the Toyota Crown.
Seeing that the 60th anniversary of the National Day in 2009 is coming again, should we expect the old red flag of the 1970s to reappear this time?
Finally, at the Shanghai Auto Show in 2005, FAW unveiled the concept car of Hongqi HQE, which is the first self-developed top-class V12 car in China. The all-aluminum body and all-hand-made car have quite the boldness of the old red flag, and the traditional signs of the old red flag car, such as the forward-leaning red flag, the tubular fender, the round headlights and the eyelash air inlet, have also been preserved.
However, it is questioned that the line trend of the front face of the vehicle still can’t completely get rid of the figure of Rolls-Royce. Under the continuous pressure of public opinion, we saw that the body of HQE was grafted with the traditional round lamp of the old red flag in the National Day military parade in 2009, which truly realized the perfect unity of classics and technology for General Secretary Hu Jintao’s military parade car.
2009 60th National Day military parade (photo from Zhongxin. com)
When the military parade made the people of China proud, this car was also well received, and it became the comprehensive expectation of the society to build a top-class car in China.
At the Beijing Auto Show in 2012, Hongqi came up with a real mass production plan. On the basis of the style of HQE parade car, it was shaped as Hongqi L9, with a price of more than RMB 3 million, which was a sensation.
?红旗 L9
2013 年 6 月 17 日，外交部公关外交办公室官方微博“外交小灵通”更新了一条与汽车相关的消息：?“王毅外长公务用车从今天起使用国产红旗轿车。”随后一汽官方微博证实这是一台红旗 H7。 H7 这款产品落脚在被奥迪 A6 把持近 20 年的 C 级行政车市场，表现出红旗积极回归主流公务用车的期望。
红旗 H7
从陈毅老总到王毅外长，红旗终于回到了我国外交展示的第一线，成为了中国公务车的南风窗。
同年，红旗 L5 投入应用，并在 2014 年以超过 500 万的售价震惊国内，被称为“国产劳斯劳斯”，从此之后，红旗 L5 成为各大国际国事活动的指定用车，还有新西兰留学生表示，在最高领袖总书记来访车队中见到了两台 L5。
红旗 L5，为红旗在售最昂贵车型
而红旗最近一次刷遍媒体头条，则是 2015 年 9 月 3 日，纪念中国人民抗日战争暨世界反法西斯战争胜利 70 周年大会在北京天安门广场隆重举行，中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席最高领袖乘坐红旗检阅车检阅三军，这次的检阅车型号为 CA7600J，最高领导人的支持，成为红旗乃至自主平台复兴的强心剂。
In 2016, FAW announced the establishment of Hongqi Division. After solo flight, Hongqi played a high-end image similar to that of Rolls-Royce to BMW and Audi to Volkswagen, trying to seize the top of China automobile market with decades of glory.
According to the official statement of Hongqi, during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Hongqi products will cover cars, SUVs and high-end commercial vehicles, and continue to deepen various market segments. By 2020, many models of Hongqi brand will be put into the private market, including 4 luxury SUVs, 2 luxury cars, 1 pure electric vehicle and 1 high-end commercial vehicle, and the coverage of the private market will reach 85%, which will fully meet the individual needs of various consumers for Hongqi brand products.
At this year’s Shanghai Auto Show, Hongqi produced a series of concept cars, which is a direct declaration of this vision.
H5 exhibited in the red flag of Shanghai Auto Show (picture from Sina Auto)
On the image, no domestic brand can surpass a single field like the red flag and become the embodiment of the country name.
On the history, no domestic brand can run through the whole tide of reform like a red flag and become an open miss of the public.
Hongqi, after the initial ideal of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the pragmatic compromise of reform and opening up, can it be exhibited again before the wonderful opportunity of reviving its own brand in this new era?
Attachment: Red Flag Family Atlas, the picture is from Red Flag, a workers’ publishing house.
