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This week's chapter is all about the first ever American Car Meet in Beijing.
I am fortunate enough to have a friend who passed me the information about the American Car Meet a few weeks ago. I passed the info to the guy who is in charge of the American Muscle Car China (AMCC) group. At first he said it wasn't going to be worth going, but after a while many of group members decided to attend. And it is good that they did because with the addition of the AMCC group we probably doubled the amount of cars. The pictures I have posted wouldn't be all that interesting if it were in America, but in China importing cars is a huge challenge. First off, only the fifth gen Camaro and the newest Mustang are officially imported. Any older car was most likely imported by foreigners years ago, or has gone through some shady channels . In other words you have to really want a specific car and expect to pay over 125% tax to get it in the country to get the process started. I was most impressed to see a Fox body Mustang GT convertible. The black licence plate shows that it is owned by a foreigner and the low numbers must mean it was one of the earlier cars imported into China when they started to allow outsiders to own cars. I would just love to imagine what that would be like to cruise around Beijing in a convertible Mustang in the early 90's. Also, not pictured there were some 90's Cadillacs, WW2 era Jeep, a very random faux wooden panelled Buick Electra Estate Wagon. Why anyone would want that car is beyond me but it was proudly displayed. It was amazing to see all of these cars together in one place. The meet only lasted a few hours because it was freezing and windy. I can't wait for warmer weather and for more people here to get into the American Car scene. The culture still isn't as solidified as it is in the states and it is cool to see the car scene here adapt, change and grow right in front of my eyes. I hope this is the start of a strong solidified scene here.
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