Lifan 320 – to be used by Team Lifan in Chinese Rally stage
The Lifan 320 is set to be used by Lifan as a rally car in certain stages of the Chinese rally championship, Lifan will then launch the Lifan 320 later. Lifan are using the slogan ‘first get onto the tracks, and then onto the market‘
The Lifan will make an appearance in the Chinese rally from June 1st to the 3rd in the Shanghai leg of the Chinese Rally Championship.
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I hear rumors a Mini Cooper might be in the the rally…Their slogan; “First on the market and then being copied by others”
that a fucking mini
Go Team Lifan!! I like their idea, first we’ll make a Mini then we’ll try it in some motorsport events to give it some heritage. The real Mini was great in rallies and races back in the 60′s and 70′ (No Imp mind!).
After seeing the prices of the other fake Mini I’d love Lifan to do well both on and off the track.
Andi,
please tell Life-less (Lifan) to try and think outside of the (mini) box. A close fake mini is still a fake mini. Imagine taking Brad Pitt and doing a remove the goober tuck and add a boob job change in order for him to look like his soul mate…Bad Andi, its just bad. Also note that they are going to “introduce the car into certain stages of the race” which means the little rice grindeer won’t go off the pavement without taking out an oil pan…Not my idea of a rally car. That’s like taking a Cadillac STS to Baja on a flat bed after letting it roll through the streets of San Diego and telling the ignorant masses that it is a rally car…Duh?
Wow! I’m honored you think Lifan would listen to my humble opinion. I really don’t see the problem with them making a fake Mini. It probably won’t go on sale out of China (Russia poss) and all the young Chinese who want a ‘Real’ Mini, but can’t afford one can get one of these. This will hopefully make enough money for Lifan to design original cars. It’s not like copying cars is new, Japan and Korea did it for years!
I really don’t care if they do well or not as a rally team, I’m just glad their trying to build a brand following through motorsport rather than getting Tiger Woods to tell everyone how nice it is to ride around in his daft Yank tank.
Andi…. The car you are referring to is actually more Australian than American.
I agree with everything else you said. Motorsport here is absolutely shocking so if they need to use a fake Mini to increase awareness then so be it. It would be good if they entered it in the touring car series as well.
I should add that I’m not a big fan of the new Mini…. either the real one or copy one but thats just my opinion
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I’m old enough th remember to old Datsuns of the 60s and 70′s and there were styling cues from Europe yes, but not to the extent that some of these do. memorable cars like the 240Z and the Supra come to mind. I just think its a little but of infringement when you steal other ideas, but then again millitary technology and airplane technology is being stolen from Europe and the US in order to obtain the great leap forward. It highlights a deepeer behavioral problem and enforces a certain amount of mistrust in the rest of the world when a country steals others ideas and flippantly disregards patent laws and copyrights….
Interesting.. so it’s easier to mistrust China for copying cars and stealing tech than it is to mistrust the Japanese for bombing Pearl Harbor? Just a thought.
Didn’t the Americans sort out that matter in 1945??
Jim you seem to be rather upset about the copying of the little Mini (the BMW Mini) well how about this from a few years ago:
http://cache.jalopnik.com/cars/images/daihatsu_mini.jpg
A copy of the original Mini by Daihatsu. Is that flippant disregard to patent laws and copyrights….or is it just cute?
Contrary to a notorious poster here, the Koreans definitely did the same amount of copying, and to a certain extent, are still copying to get their development up to snuff at a faster pace.
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Look at the Kia Amanti from 3-years back: Outside, it’s a pure Jaguar S-type rip-off. Inside? Stole Merc’s famous seat control. Absolutely identical, as if they grafted it right from a Merc. There are also many instances from the electronics world, but I won’t go there.
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Anyways, in general, European countries had the luxury of taking a slow pace (at least at their own pace) of development in the past, but Asian countries nowadays are expected to grow faster and faster (is it due to unrealistic expectations from capital markets? Also humanitarian pressures), what other choice do they have other than to copy? If Chinese firms waste 10 years to r&d, then another 2 yrs to figure out proper manufacturing methods to meet Western standards (probably impossible to do from scratch in 2 yrs), and market a good product that people won’t buy, and repeat the cycle again, people can never be lifted out of the poverty cycle within our life time. Other countries had the luxury of choice to go to war, enslave others, etc. to enrich themselves, but obviously that is frowned upon in this day and age.
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Anyways, I lay the blame solely on the Internet. Without it, no one would’ve known about these domestic Chinese/whatever products until they were ready for the international stage, thus, removing the fuel for all this mistrust and hatred. There is also a confirmation bias that is very persistent on many writings online, focusing only on the negative aspects, not the positive devleopments. I guess it’s human nature.
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Enough of my rant..
Gone a bit off topic here guys……
Newsflash! I hear a Cuban sugar cane firm has bought the dies for the late Yugo. I can hardly wait for the convertible version to be reborn. VIVA! papa Fidel! you are my hero. I wonder how many will get their boxers in a wad over that….2 maybe, Fidel’s bro and a guy in Chicago who thinks the cold war isn’t over.
Whoa……..this thread is a E ticket ride!! Quick – anybody – who remembers what a ‘E ticket ride’ is??
Regarding Lifan – the 320 DOES have a close resemblance to the Mini Clubman……it some ways the 320 is actually BETTER looking. Also, it’s no closer than say……the Camry was to the Accord in the early 1990′s, or the Corrolla was to the old Datsun B210 in the early/mid 70′s. The FACT is….as close as it is, it is NOT a pure copy. There will be no court case, no legal proceedings. It will be interesting to see one up close and personal, but I’ll have to wait a few more months for that!!