I'm the owner of a new "unique" car from DPRK.

[lulzyboy]

If you can call it unique... 

 

Yesterday I purchased a Pyeonghwa Hwiparam II, a North Korean version of the Chinese Brilliance BS4. Long story short, the car belonged to a Chinese diplomat living in North Korea. He was allowed to take the car back home with him when he left. He then sold the car to Chinese company in Germany who no longer wanted it and left it in limbo at the port in Tallinn, Estonia. The owner then listed the car for sale at an incredibly cheap price and so I bought it.

 

 

Registering it will be problematic given that Estonia does not acknowledge North Korea as a country and so therefore means that they have to try and register it as the Chinese counterpart, however, the VIN code is different and that causes some issues.

Specifications:

 

Manufacated: Feb 2010

1.8L Brilliance engine with 100kw (134hp) 4cyl

5 Speed manual

0-100 (62mph) 15 seconds

Front wheel drive

Some air bags and cheap plastic

 

So what's it like to drive? Well... Terrible. The steering wheel vibrates over any road surface, The gearbox feels like it was taken from a tractor and modified to fit, There is near to no power what so ever from the engine considering it's got 134hp to play with it feels like you're constantly driving up a 25% hill. The back end of the frame seems to actually bend if you move left to right quickly, the steering is FAR too precise. The pedals are too high for comfort, the mirrors have a horrible reflection that make it seem like cars on the other side of the road are coming towards you then just suddenly disappear.

 

Interior quality: Sound system is incredibly poor, sounds like someone stabbed the speakers though. The plastic on the dash is actually soft touch but under is hard plastic so it makes a rattle and creek sound. The buttons are wobbly so you don't know if you pressed them in properly or not and the screws are so cheap they mostly fall out as you go over the bumps.'

 

NOTE: It's also worth noting that the sound system may improve if I swapped out the radio as the current one is tuned for Chinese band FM and has limiters on as required in DPRK.

 

 

Any questions? feel free to ask.

Edited 19 June, 2016 by lulzyboy

[FlyingGecko]

You BOUGHT it? Shouldn't they have paid YOU?

[lulzyboy]

You BOUGHT it? Shouldn't they have paid YOU?

I bought it for just over 1000 GBP

[BJM]

£1,000 !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

WHY????????????

[FlyingGecko]

I bought it for just over 1000 GBP

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

 

You were robbed.

[lulzyboy]

Worth noting that 1. Cars here are generally a LOT higher than UK, thus why I buy cars from Uk and export them here. and 2. I bought it expecting it to be like that. I know full well it isn't worth anything but I wanted to own a rare car that no one had so.

[newbie69]

£1,000 !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

WHY????????????

 

 

+1

 

I thought a reasonable "incredibly cheap price"  for this piece of engineering would be some beer tokens? Looks like the North Korean Bentley. I can't stop imagining Clarkson making a story about this car, it'd be hilarious. Good old TG days.

Edited 19 June, 2016 by newbie69

[lulzyboy]

+1

 

I thought a reasonable "incredibly cheap price"  for this piece of engineering would be some beer tokens? Looks like the North Korean Bentley. I can't stop imagining Clarkson making a story about this car, it'd be hilarious. Good old TG days.

 

It was 20,000 US dollars when it was new 6 years ago, so it's not exactly expensive now. To give you an idea of what 1000 gbp would get you here, You'd get a 99 Skoda Fabia 1.4 petrol for slightly more than that with a replacement door from a stealer.

Edited 19 June, 2016 by lulzyboy

[RapidPaul]

Fair play to you mate It's a lot more interesting than most of the cars you could buy for a grand. Is it really 15 seconds for 0-60? It must weigh about 3 tonnes!

Edited 19 June, 2016 by RapidPaul

[john999boy]

More photos required please!

[lulzyboy]

Fair play to you mate It's a lot more interesting than most of the cars you could buy for a grand. Is it really 15 seconds for 0-60? It must weigh about 3 tonnes!

I'd say its 15 seconds or longer tbh. It's one of the slowest cars I've ever driven. I'll check the weight for you in a min.

 

Empty weight is 1450kg

Gross weight is 1810kg

 

More photos required please!

What photos would you like?

Edited 19 June, 2016 by lulzyboy

[FlyingGecko]

But seriously, I can see the appeal. It's like all those Trabants that came over th the UK after the Berlin Wall fell. Or those who enter their pet in the world's ugliest dog contest.

 

There's some great stuff about the Brilliance BS4 on the net. No stars in the NCAP test, pulled from launch in Germany at the last minute, etc.

 

Seems Brilliance used Giugaro and Pininfarina to design their car range. I'd keep quiet about that.

 

 

lulzyboy, I salute your determination to go your own way!

[lulzyboy]

But seriously, I can see the appeal. It's like all those Trabants that came over th the UK after the Berlin Wall fell. Or those who enter their pet in the world's ugliest dog contest.

 

There's some great stuff about the Brilliance BS4 on the net. No stars in the NCAP test, pulled from launch in Germany at the last minute, etc.

 

Seems Brilliance used Giugaro and Pininfarina to design their car range. I'd keep quiet about that.

 

 

lulzyboy, I salute your determination to go your own way!

 

Thank you. It's not that I think it's good or would be a good car, I reviewed it calling it out for the fact it's an incredibly bad car... Maybe not as bad as a Chevrolet Aveo but still bad. Compared to the MK3 Octavia it's like stepping into a 97 Fiat Punto.

 

Also yes it failed the crash tests in pretty spectcular form, if the UK manages to stay in the EU I'll drive it the 2100 miles from here to Dover and hopefully live.

[Dr Zoidberg]

Can we have some more photos please. It looks like a pile of crap but for the price I'd have been tempted too.

I assume parts supply will be "difficult"?

[lulzyboy]

Can we have some more photos please. It looks like a pile of crap but for the price I'd have been tempted too.

I assume parts supply will be "difficult"?

What pictures can I take for you? 

[RapidPaul]

I'd say its 15 seconds or longer tbh. It's one of the slowest cars I've ever driven. I'll check the weight for you in a min.

 

Empty weight is 1450kg

Gross weight is 1810kg

Either they're lying about the power output of the engine, or your example has a secret consignment of weapons-grade plutonium hidden inside the doors!  :p  I do like it though and would love to see some more general pictures. It would have made a good subject for the Name that car game... would have kept us guessing for a long time!

[mac11irl]

Interior and exterior pics please, an epically crap car is always as much fun as a really good car

[lulzyboy]

 

 

 

[lulzyboy]

Either they're lying about the power output of the engine, or your example has a secret consignment of weapons-grade plutonium hidden inside the doors!  :p  I do like it though and would love to see some more general pictures. It would have made a good subject for the Name that car game... would have kept us guessing for a long time!

 

I think the engine can output it but the gearbox is **** poor. The car originally only came with an automatic gearbox in China and this is supposed to give better fuel eco and much quicker 0-60 speed so I suspect it's the terrible NK gearbox (whatever it happens to be)

[hatchy]

Ex chinese diplomat car, it's probably bugged to hell,trackers and no doubt an explosive device just in case he made a dash for the border. 

[Ootohere]

It looks interesting and so very Barry Boy BMW.

If the indicators are not working it will be pretty much a good Beemer copy.

[mac11irl]

Ex chinese diplomat car, it's probably bugged to hell,trackers and no doubt an explosive device just in case he made a dash for the border.

thats the extra weight - 200kg of semtex packed into the door cards

[camelspyyder]

It's better looking than a lot of Chinese cars - or American ones if it comes to that - the last 10 years of Pontiac or Oldsmobile before they were killed off for a start.

 

It just needs bigger wheels.

 

And it surely can't be much worse than my Proton Wira

Edited 19 June, 2016 by camelspyyder

[g_tee]

For a grand - if you can get a year out of it, it'll pay for itself. It's certainly a very interesting car.

[RobClubley]

Sounds even worse than the Chery J3 I tested.