Hongqi L9 offers retro-weird style for Chinese bigwigs

Hongqi means "Red Flag," and the sub-brand of Chinese automaker FAW was created in the 1950s to build cars for leaders of the nation known by its red flag. In those early days Hongqi designers took inspiration from what looks to be fifties Chevrolets; these days they've kept a little of the Chevrolet but look more the way of England. The L9 executive sedan about the length of a Rolls-Royce Phantom – on Mercedes S-Class-like wheels – and not much cheaper than the Rolls, to boot.

According to China Car Times this L9 is the civilian version of the bulletproof L9 sedan that carried then-chairman Hu Jin Tao through the capital during the 60th anniversary celebration of The People's Republic. It's a little shorter and gone are the bulletproof body and platform, but you'll still get a 6.0-liter V12 with something like 400 horsepower and 405 pound-feet of torque. FAW hasn't released any info and listed prices vary greatly – anywhere from $800,000 to one million pounds ($1.5M US) – and it's not even clear if people can buy it or if it's merely meant to be for VIPs.

Not that it matters, because you'll probably never see one outside the gallery of high-res images above.