Chinese Junk

August 10, 2007

Chinese Junk

Traffic in Beijing, where once there were only bicycles.
Photo: AP Photo/Greg Baker

by Stephan Wilkinson

What's the most dangerous thing the Chinese make? No, not lead-painted toys, cat food, farm fish, or anti-freeze-laced toothpaste but a car, the Chery Amulet. (Can we assume they want people to hope it's actually a Chevy Amulet?)

An amulet is something that's supposed to protect you, but a Russian car magazine recently crash-tested the automotive Amulet, which is a midsize, 1980s-technology, made-in-China sedan that is both cheap and popular in Russia. AutoReview Magazine ran the car into a concrete barrier at 40 mph, and if you watch the video of the debacle on YouTube, you can see how well the Chery fared.

Not well at all. It crumpled like a popped paper bag, but the crash-test dummy did even worse. Eviscerated, decapitated, gutted, and generally the worse for wear, he/it had to be removed from the wreckage in pieces. A European crash test of a more expensive Chery model, a Brilliance -- don't you love these names? -- had equally predictable results.

Read on to hear what a proper crash test should accomplish.

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10:49:35 AM

Source: http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/blogs/perrinpost/car_traveler/index.html