Speaking of SsangYong Automobile is an old friend, it used to be quite miserable for SAIC, such as the Shanghai Huizhong introduced before. Today's Ssangyong Istana minibus, called it a van or VAN more image. This car is based on the Mercedes-Benz MB100 minibus developed, which is why it was named "Istana" by Ssangyong Motors, and the name Istana was used in China, so I still call it Istana.
In 1995, the first generation of Ssangyong Istana
SsangYong Motors was founded in 1954 as The Hadong Bay Motor Company and originally built jeeps for the U.S. garrison. It began producing various special-purpose cars in 1976, renamed East Asia Automobile in 1977, and renamed SsangYong Automobile in 1988 by SsangYong Commercial Group.
The cooperation between SsangYong and Mercedes began in 1991, when SsangYong equipped its SUV models with Mercedes engines. Today's Double Dragon car logo is newly replaced, and the former double ring logo represents the two dragons of Korean legend.
1981 Mercedes-Benz MB100
Before talking about Ssangyong Istana, let's take a brief look at the Mercedes-Benz MB100 minibus, in fact, this car is not from mercedes-benz's German headquarters, but belongs to the Victoria factory of Mercedes-Benz in Spain. In addition to being a minibus, this car is also available in vans and pickup trucks. In fact, this car is the last generation of Mercedes-Benz Vito, which was introduced to South Korea by SsangYong Motors after the Mercedes-Benz Spanish plant ceased production in 1995.
Double Dragon Istana in 1995
The same model as Ssangyong, Shanghai Huizhong Istana, was launched in 2004, and SAIC Motor has great expectations for this car. At the time, the car was the main commercial model in South Korea, with 120,000 units sold between 1996 and 2002, accounting for 30% of the Korean commercial vehicle market. But now it is rare to see Huizhong Istana on the market, and today we will talk about the original Ssangyong Istana model.
This 2000 bun face Double Dragon Istana is a typical van shape, with a slightly curved roof and a bullet shape at the front of the car tilted forward. The trapezoidal front windshield is wide and bright, and the two wide bottom wipers below are the highlights. The wiper is located on a black panel with a striped air intake, and a white panel in the middle of the front face below. In the middle of the lower middle is a black striped intake grille, and in the middle of the grille is the double ring logo of SsangYong. The grille is flanked by headlights, the bottom bumper is slightly convex, and the hollow in the middle of the bumper can be used as an auxiliary boarding pedal.
Open the front cover to see the engine compartment, and you can clearly see the configuration such as air filters.
The vehicle is powered by a Mercedes 2.9-litre inline 5-cylinder diesel engine with a maximum power of 95 horsepower and a 5-speed manual transmission. The car can also be fitted with an optional 2.3-liter inline 4-cylinder petrol engine, which has a maximum power of 150 horsepower.
It was a 5-door model with doors on both sides of the front cab and the middle body, plus a tail-up door. The car is equipped with door monolithic rearview mirrors on both sides of the head, which is rounded and beautiful.
The interior of the vehicle is much better than that of the bus model, with a wide-body two-spoke steering wheel with an operating lever underneath and a semicircular inline instrument panel in the front with a rounded design. The T-shaped overall center console is in the middle of the function area and the multimedia area, the chicken leg stop is on the downward extension part, and the right part has two water cup slots. The front row features 1+1 high-back wrapped leather seats, power windows on the doors, and storage slots in front of the co-pilot.
The interior space is relatively small, counting the two foldable deluxe version small chairs with a total of 12 seats. The windows on both sides are push-pull open, and the air conditioning ports and reading lights on the roof protrude slightly downwards, not flush with the roof. The last row of seats can be rolled forward to increase the rear cargo loading space.
The rear of the car is a wide, closed windshield with a patch blinds at the top and a single-arm bottom wiper below. The rear door is flanked by three vertical taillights, the bottom bumper is U-shaped, and the protruding part can be used as a boarding pedal. The body measures 4890mm long, 1855mm wide and 2000mm high, with a wheelbase of 2455mm between the two wheels.
Daewoo Istana, South Korea
South Korea's Daewoo once acquired SsangYong in 1998 and maintained a cooperation agreement with Mercedes, and this Istana was also sold for a while with the Daewoo logo. Now SsangYong Motors has filed for bankruptcy again, after Indian tractor maker Mahindra Group acquired the right to operate SsangYong in 2010, accounting for a maximum of 74.65% of the shares. After reading what you want to say, or want to know which brand models, welcome to leave a message to tell me.