Hongqi CA72
The Hongqi CA72 is an automobile produced by FAW Hongqi. It was the company's first production automobile and the first representative sedan that was constructed and built in China. Produced from 1959 until 1963, the CA72 was only available to state institutions and the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and was regularly used in public events until the 1970s. Numerous details about technology and production are unclear. History The Hongqi CA72 was developed by First Automotive Works (FAW) based in Changchun, which was founded in 1953 with technical and financial support from the Soviet Union. FAW originally primarily produced commercial vehicles, in particular heavy trucks based on Soviet models under the Jiefang brand. In 1958, the Great Leap Forward began in China, aimed at eliminating China's industrial gap to the western industrialized countries. The effects of this initiative were also felt in the automotive sector. From 1958, several Chinese plants began constructing passenger cars for civilian use: however, because China did not have a homegrown auto industry, most of the new automotive development was based on Western models, imported in small numbers: while outright copying was prohibited, most of the vehicles in this period differed far more from Western