The Hong Kong Classic Car Club braved last Sunday's gloom for a run to the China Light and Power stations in Tuen Mun. As many as 100 car lovers piled into 39 classics, including a 1934 Wolseley and the Daimler that ferried former governor Chris Patten, says classic Bimmer-lover Carl Yuen.
'After meeting at daybreak at the Golden Coast Hotel, an entourage of Hong Kong's most prized vehicles made their way to the Castle Peak power station,' he says.
'As the slower Riley and Beetles soldiered on up the climbs, the fire-breathing 928S and Mondial QV followed patiently. A Toyota Celica brooded quietly next to a BMW from the same generation, a combo not seen since Macau 1980.'
The 'baby' Peugeot 1007 has arrived and will sell for $186,800, says Calvin Lam of dealers AutoFrance (tel: 3118 1828). The four-seater 1.6-litre runabout (below) has so-called Sesame remote-control sliding side doors, economy at 8.6 litres per 100km and safety. Equipped with seven airbags, it won five stars in European crash tests. Hong Kong cars will be to Peugeot's best specs, 'with a five-speed, 2-Tronic automatic gearbox with F1-mode gear-change paddles, panoramic electric glass roof, skirts and 16-inch wheels', says Lam. The 1007s also have a Cameleo kit that Lam says lets you change the interior colour without tools. The 1007 seems Hong Kong-friendly as it emits 156g of CO2 per km, the fug equivalent of 1.73 Smart ForTwos. Stand back for a teeny Peugeot-Smart showdown.
Roger Lai and Ian Foster sent us photos of the Imperial Rally's recent tour of Hong Kong. The Paris-based rally for 19 classics is probably one of the most significant French motoring jaunts in China since Citroen's Croisiere Jaune expedition in 1931-32. By all accounts, the left-hand-drive Imperial Rally visitors were as intrepid in the cut and thrust of our gridlock.
Undaunted by frightening roadside readings in Causeway Bay, the 'Croisiere Smog' pressed on through the particles for lunch at the Aberdeen Boat Club, posed for tourists at Murray House in Stanley, and then returned through the Cross-Harbour Tunnel to the InterContinental, where Lai beautifully captured the effect of hazed neon and the flank of a 1925 Bugatti 35B (above).
