The Hongqi HQE is a car from Hongqi, built from 2009, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Under the bonnet: 6.0 .
Where it came from
The Hongqi HQE (红旗HQE) is a large four-door limousine built by FAW Hongqi. Released in 2009, it is the first Chinese-built V12 cylinder engine-equipped luxury car.
As Hongqi's most advanced top-of-the-line vehicle type, the HQE will serve as the high-end vehicle for VIPs and high-ranking national officials. The HQE was later designated to CA7600J, the official vehicle of Chinese leader Hu Jintao for the People's Republic of China National Day 60th anniversary celebration. The production model of the HQE is called L7 (short wheel base) and L9 when the mass production began in 2013.
Under the skin
Power comes from 6.0 . The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: its successor was the Hongqi L5. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Tesla Roadster, the Nissan 370Z, the Lexus LFA — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Hongqi catalogue sit the Hongqi and the Hongqi 774.