You may know of Hongqi, the luxury vehicle arm of FAW and the oldest automotive brand in China, with a long history of producing vehicle for state leaders and dignitaries. You may also know about the L5, the company’s flagship, which became famous locally when the first second-generation unit was gifted to the current Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar.
But its continued rarity and the fact it’s only sold in China means that the car, now called the Guoli (Chinese for “national gift”), remains a curio for those living outside the Middle Kingdom. Which is why it may come as a surprise to know that a used unit reportedly broke the record for the single most expensive Chinese export, changing hands for a cool 11 million yuan (RM6.5 million).
According to Car News China, the car, exported from Erdos in China to the United Arab Emirates, was purchased by Stanislav Semenov – founder and CEO of the Dubai-based quantitative trading firm Eqvilent – having preordered the car at Auto Shanghai in April. Brand new, the car has an official retail price of 7.18 million yuan (RM4.2 million), although the unit that was exported was the customised one-off Lanting Yayun, which will undoubtedly have cost more.
The Guoli sits at the top of Hongqi’s Golden Sunflower range of high-end vehicles and the previous-generation model was the ride of choice for president Xi Jinping – he has since stepped up to the even bigger N701, built just for him. That’s not to say that the car is in any way small: at 5,980 mm long, 2,090 mm wide and 1,710 mm tall, it’s almost exactly the same length as the Rolls-Royce Phantom Extended.
The slightly twee retro design is meant to replicate its first cars, with round headlights, a large chrome front grille, an upright glasshouse, thick C-pillars and vertical taillights flanking a boot lid with chrome strips. The retractable and illuminated bonnet ornament is tilted at 23.5 degrees, which is identical to the Earth’s axial tilt. It’s said to be pointing towards Polaris, the north star.
Inside, the extravagance continues, both in terms of tech – there’s a 12.3-inch digital instrument display, a massive 16.2-inch infotainment touchscreen and an augmented-reality head-up display – and the opulence. The aforementioned centre screen, for instance, rises up from the dashboard like a scroll unfurling, and you also get deep pile carpets and green lacquered trim made to look like jade. There are also 14-way power-adjustable front seats with heating, memory and massage functions.
But of course, the rear is where it’s at, with 16-way power adjustment to match the 16 speakers, along with four-way powered headrest adjustment and a one-touch recline function. The bosses at the back also get their own vanity mirrors, curtains and rear windscreen sunshade. Acoustic glass all around and active noise cancellation ensure near-total silence throughout.
Semenov’s Lanting Yayun was inspired by the Orchid Pavilion Gathering of 353 CE, finished in blue with a silver bonnet, roof and boot lid and rolling on 21-inch polished chrome wheels.
Inside, the lacquered trim is instead coloured blue to mimic Ru kiln porcelain, while the front passenger dash storage lid, C-pillar decor and rear centre console trim have been painted to reproduce scenes of the aforementioned gathering, with the storage lid also inlaid with gold foil. Meanwhile, the headlining features Rolls-Royce-style hand-laid “starlight” illumination.
Power comes from a 4.0 litre twin-turbocharged V8 that produces 381 PS and 530 Nm of torque, sent to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Despite all this power, the Guoli’s scarcely-believable 3,150 kg kerb weigt means that it takes a full 7.9 seconds to get from zero to 100 km/h, on its way to a top speed of 220 km/h.
GALLERY: Hongqi L5 (Guoli) delivered to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar
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