China became infamous for its clones of everyday products, including cars, but the issue is slowly abiding, but in some corners of China cloning a cars exterior appearance is still big business!
The below three wheelers are popular in poorer inland Chinese cities, its been a while since we saw on in a big coastal city. The below trikes come in either electric or engine (2 stroke) form, making them cheap to run, and cheap to fix.
The first red three wheeler is the Prius style one we mentioned previously on CCT.
Can you work out what the other models are based on?
The three wheelers are pretty much like the TATA Nano in many respects, these trikes are a step up from a motorbike, offering slightly more protection in a crash and certainly providing much more comfort than motorbike riding. Although the above motors may be copies of existing cars, they do bring cheap motoring to those who cannot afford to buy the originals, giving families who couldn’t fit 5 to a motorbike the chance to become fully mobile.
The above cars are made by Shandong based, Jin Da Lu.
From left to right from the prius, Peugeot 206, Cherry QQ6, Cherry QQ3 and Daewoo Matiz (which is odd because the QQ3 is basically a clone of the Matiz!)
Arent they all clones of the original 3 wheeler - The Reliant Robin?
http://www.3wheelers.com/robin.html
well, the reliant was a 3 wheeler, but it doesn’t mean that every 3 wheeler after it is a copy of it…
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if so, than every automobile nowadays are all copies of those wheeled steam machines of 150 years ago..
I think that you will find that most people from the UK will instantly make the connection between all 3 wheelers and the Reliant Robin.
My mates dad had a truck version when I was about 7 years old.
We thought it was hilarious to have a three wheeled vehicle!
hahahah that prius looks better than the original
And comes cheaper too!!
You should have included a picture of the ZAP ZEBRA which appears to be the USA’s electric version of this trike.
the ZAP zebra is a generic three wheeled electric car, nothing special about it. I could find a dozen of those manufacturers in ten minutes!