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. 

I did find a small box that was connected directly to the battery and filled in with some sealant to stop people opening it. I've since unplugged it.. god knows what it is.

 

It looks interesting and so very Barry Boy BMW.

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

 

Brilliance is the BMW manufacturer in China. I think they stole the blueprints for the front end from BMW, and the back end from Toyota, who they ALSO have a contract with.

 

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

 

Checked, no semtex sadly.

 

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

 

I think you can thank the fact they stole the blueprints from European and other Asian car companies for that. I was actually looking at buying a Proton GEN-2 from the UK given that they're incredibly rare to see here.

 

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

 

It'll last more than a year as long as it's not crashed... hopefully.

 

Sounds even worse than the Chery J3 I tested.

 

That thing looks like a poor mans Astra.

Wow!... Didn't know they "made" cars north of the DMZ

They've been tutored by British Leyland designers when Red Ken was top banana.   

it looks like a copy of some sort of kia or Hyundai, a copy of a copy lol 

Awesome! Love a good crap car!

 

Is it just me or are those bulkhead to strut top tie-bars completely on the ****?

They've been tutored by British Leyland designers when Red Ken was top banana.   

 

There's a blast from the past!

 

(I think you mean Derek Robinson, AKA Red Robbo?)

 

For our younger readers, Red Robbo was a union leader who spent most of his time stopping the BL production lines in the 70s.

There's a blast from the past!

 

(I think you mean Derek Robinson, AKA Red Robbo?)

 

For our younger readers, Red Robbo was a union leader who spent most of his time stopping the BL production lines in the 70s.

Yes, Red Robbo, got 'em mixed up.

Easily done, Soot1e, both dinosaurs on the lunatic fringe.

Well, after today, theres an increased chance of a lot more chinese cars in the UK market.... could end up a lot cheaper to import than the euro manufacturers :/

UPDATED REVIEW AND MORE PICTURES!

 

So having placed a bet with my friend where I'd be unable to drive any other car for a month I decided I'd go on a long road trip with it. Travelling from Estonia I went though Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia then picked up a friend and went from Serbia to Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo and back to Serbia and then brought the car back home totalling over 12,000KM (7500 miles).

 

The car loosened up after around 2000km and the gears felt much easier to push in, although still not very responsive. The seats however were incredibly comfortable and neither me or my friend had back pain from them. Going over the pretty terrible roads in Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia wasn't bad as the suspension is hard and does a good job. Handling is still pretty much like a go kart where you never really feel in control of the car, even after 12000km.

 

While on the autobahn I decided to see how much I could get from it and pushed it to the limit... the results were quite surprising.

 

 

The roads in Bosnia and Montenegro as well as Switzerland are incredibly hilly, and well, the gearbox doesn't seem to like pulling up any sort of incline. It will do it, but you've gotta be at such high RPM and the tyres start to lose grip.

 

 

Despite the flaws I've actually found a little love for the car. It's not a great car for sure, but I enjoyed my trip and the car kept on sailing though it despite not being in it's comfort zone and I think that says something. 

 

In Italy:

 

Slovenia-Italian border town hotel:

 

 

I have more pictures should anyone want them.

Edited 17 July, 20169 yr by lulzyboy

Good adventure!

Wow - how terrifically awful!

 

Glad you're having fun though.