Chapter 314 Big Super
As the end of the month approached, the city of Yanjing gradually became restless.
The most obvious feature was that the electrical appliance counters in various shopping malls were crowded with people. Anyone who could afford it and could not afford to buy a TV before was able to do so this time. As a result, the number of televisions in Yanjing City suddenly increased sharply.
Lin Weimin has been studying cars these days.
Before the 1980s, cars were a forbidden area for ordinary people.
At that time, the price of cars in China was three or four times that of the international market. Most working-class people earned 40 or 50 yuan a month, and even if they saved money for half their lives without eating or drinking, they still could not afford a car.
At the same time, considering that private cars are a symbol of capitalism, ordinary people are not allowed to own them. Even official cars must be strictly rationed according to ranks. Before 1984, county and regiment-level cadres could only use domestic jeeps, which were basically Yanjing 212.
At that time, the domestic production of cars was also very scarce. From the start of production in 1958 to the end of production in 1994, only 1,500 domestically produced Hongqi cars were produced in 25 years. The annual production of Shanghai-brand cars was 3,000, which was less than the daily production of major foreign car manufacturers. Not to mention the technology, which was 20 to 30 years behind.
In recent years, due to reform and opening up, the level restrictions on official vehicles have been loosened, and economic development and foreign exchanges have made domestically produced cars a little out of date.
Toyota Crown and other mud-boom cars flooded into China through legal imports or smuggling. Last year, Yanjing bought a batch of Crowns as taxis. In the following years, the number of imported cars increased sharply and reached its peak in 1985.
The foreign exchange consumed in just a few years is more than twice the total investment in China's automobile industry in the past three decades.
This situation has attracted the attention of the country. Whether to build cars or buy cars has risen to a political issue involving national self-esteem. This wave of car imports has directly affected the development trend of China's automobile industry in the next few decades.
This national situation certainly had nothing to do with Lin Weimin. What he was thinking about was what car he should buy and how to buy it.
1984 was the most important year in the history of private cars in China. In February of this year, the government issued "Several Provisions on the Purchase of Motor Vehicles, Ships and Tractors by Individual Farmers or Joint Households to Operate in the Transport Industry."
This is the first time that the country has clarified the legality of private car purchases in terms of policy. Although the scope of private car ownership is limited to the small circle of farmers and agricultural machinery, at least the policy is becoming more and more relaxed.
Lin Weimin has heard of many private car purchases. These people all have some connections and can get the approval documents needed to buy cars.
Lin Weimin has many connections, but not many of them can be linked to this kind of approval document.
When buying a car, he definitely won't buy a small car like Lada or Fiat. His target is always imported cars of similar grade, which would be too conspicuous to park under his unit.
After thinking it over, he ran to No. 2 Shatan North Street.
Zhang Qi has been very busy recently and you can hardly see him at the Writers Association.
But it doesn’t matter if he’s not here, the same goes for looking for Zhang Guangnian.
The old man used to be the editor-in-chief of "People's Literature" and is an old acquaintance of ours. Now he is the secretary of Group D of the Writers Association and holds a high position of power.
"You want to buy a car?" Zhang Guangnian looked at Lin Weimin in surprise.
"Why are you so surprised? It's like I'm committing a crime! Please help me, I'll hang this car under your unit." Lin Weimin pleaded.
Zhang Guangnian hesitated, "Can we still do this?"
"Why not? Teacher Zhang, please help me. It's just a quota. With the level of your unit, you don't need this quota."
The Cultural Association is a high-ranking official organization after all, but now it only has two cars, which seems a bit shabby to say others, and the quota is wasted.
"Wait for me for a moment. I can't make the final decision on this matter alone. I need to seek everyone's opinions."
Ba Lao is the boss of the Writers Association, but because he is in Shanghai all year round, the actual person in charge of the Writers Association is now Zhang Guangnian.
He asked Lin Weimin to wait for a while and discussed the matter with several leaders in the unit.
In fact, this is just a formality. Lin Weimin just donated money to the unit last month. Although it is not for the Literary Association, it is to support the work of the Literary Association after all.
If Lin Weimin had not donated money, this matter would have been difficult to handle, because after all, it was Lin Weimin who bought the car with his own money, and it would have been difficult to account for it.
But now Zhang Qi is running the foundation's affairs, so the car can be completely registered under the foundation. On the surface, it is donated to the foundation by Lin Weimin, but in fact he is still using it himself.
They have donated so much money, so we should give them some face.
"Okay, I'll get the procedures done for you."
"Okay, thank you, Teacher Zhang!"
Lin Weimin left the Writers Association happily.
After finishing the formalities, the next issue was choosing a car. Lin Weimin ran to the newlywed Wang Shuo and called Xie Jing.
Show the paperwork and say, "Get me a Crown!"
Wang Shuo and Xie Jing's eyes lit up when they saw Lin Weimin's documents. Wang Shuo cursed in dissatisfaction, "You rich dog!"
"Don't be jealous." Lin Weimin cursed back and asked Xie Jing: "Can you do it?"
"Leave it to me and I'll give you an internal price."
In 1984, Hainan was designated as a special economic zone by the state. However, Hainan itself is remote and poor. The state sympathized with Hainan and gave Hainan certain policies, which gave many people the opportunity to take advantage of loopholes.
An imported mud-bombing truck with a length of 5,000 meters can make an astonishing profit of 100% or 200% when sold to the mainland after paying tariffs. Yet people are scrambling to buy it. You can't buy it even if you don't have connections.
Why?
It’s cheap!
Xie Jing and his team couldn't get the approval to resell the car, but there was no problem in helping Lin Weimin make some contacts to buy a cheaper car.
After inquiring the next day, Xie Jing found Lin Weimin, who sold him the latest imported seventh-generation Crown for 45,000 yuan.
Xie Jing did some calculations for Lin Weimin. The most popular car imported into Hainan Island now is the seventh-generation Crown, which is divided into four models: royal, super luxury, luxury and ordinary.
The Crown he asked Lin Weimin about was of ordinary configuration, with an import price of 5,700 US dollars. Based on the current US dollar to RMB exchange rate ratio of 1:2.8, and a 120% tariff, the price is about 35,000 yuan. He quoted Lin Weimin a price of 45,000 yuan, which can be said to be the most conscientious.
"I told my buddy that if you buy a car, it's like advertising for him, so it has to be cheaper!" Xie Jing said to Lin Weimin with a laugh.
Lin Weimin took out a few stacks of foreign exchange certificates and said, "I don't have any RMB. I donated all of it. I only have foreign exchange certificates left. Don't buy a regular car. I finally bought the car, so I have to upgrade it."
Xie Jing's eyes lit up when he saw the foreign exchange coupons. "Why didn't you say you would buy it with foreign exchange coupons? What configuration do you want? He has a royal-class car, which is twice as expensive as this ordinary-class car!"
When buying a car, don’t buy the lowest or highest configuration model. This is an eternal truth.
"Let's get a super luxurious one." Lin Weimin said as he complained in his heart about the childish name the Japanese gave to this configuration.
Xie Jing threw several stacks of foreign exchange coupons back into Lin Weimin's arms, leaving only three stacks.
"That's enough, let's go!"
In later generations, when people talked about the car market in Yanjing, they would inevitably mention the Huaxiang used car market outside the southwest fourth ring road.
At that time, there was no Fourth Ring Road, so it was called Huaxiang. Since the 1980s, car resellers have appeared here. These people rely on connections and dare not be too blatant, so the place is placed outside the Fourth Ring Road for safety.
Lin Weimin met the childhood friend Xie Jing mentioned, whose name was Qin Zhao. He had some impression of him, as if he had seen him on the day of Wang Shuo's wedding.
When Xie Jing came, he didn't waste any time. He showed the foreign exchange coupons, and Qin Zhao's eyes lit up.
This thing is much more popular than RMB!
After the final negotiation, a Toyota Crown luxury car cost 23,000 foreign exchange coupons.
The transaction was completed. Xie Jing sat in the car, his eyes shining, touching things everywhere, with the look of a pervert.
The reason why the Crown is so popular among Chinese people has a lot to do with its large size. Compared with the petite bodies of Lada and Polonaise that are common on the streets nowadays, the Crown looks much more imposing.
In addition to its size, the car's many modern features also contribute to its appeal.
Power windows, dual-zone climate control, front and rear stereo and cassette player, onboard refrigerator, auto-on headlights, front and rear reading lights and power mirrors…
This is a feature that many cars had decades later, but it was already available on the Crown in the 1980s.
The super luxury Crown bought by Lin Weimin has everything except a "car refrigerator".
"This Dachao really blocked the shot!" Xie Jing explored the car for a while, and after coming out, he pulled up his pants with an excited look on his face.
The Royal and Luxury models of the Crown are now affectionately called "Grand Super".
"Teacher Lin, do you need me to send someone to drive the car back for you?" Qin Zhao asked with a very service-minded attitude.
Lin Weimin got on the front seat, slammed the door, rolled down the window and said to Qin Zhao, "Just find someone to take the motorcycle to Shichahai for me."
Seeing this, Xie Jing immediately sat in the passenger seat. He came here on Lin Weimin's motorcycle.
"Teacher Lin, can you drive?" Xie Jing asked.
Lin Weimin held the steering wheel with one hand and the gear lever with the other, with a calm and confident smile on his face.
“It’s been closed for a long time!”
Ignite, shift gears, add gas, all operations are done smoothly.
Dachao roared on the spot.
The atmosphere in the car was quiet for a few seconds before Xie Jing said, "Teacher Lin, the handbrake is not released yet."
"I haven't been open for a long time, so my skills are not so good anymore."
Lin Weimin released the handbrake, repeated the previous operation, and finally set off smoothly.
After a trip to the vehicle management office and getting the license plate, the magnificent and luxurious Crown roamed the streets of Yanjing.
It was already evening, and there were crowds of people outside the car. At this time, it was the time when people in Yanjing were getting off work. The streets were filled with a stream of bicycles, and from time to time a few cars passed by, but they were far less impressive than the big supermarkets.
Xie Jing sat in the car, feeling a sense of pride in his heart, and then sighed: "The Japanese are not human, this car is really well made."
Lin Weimin touched the steering wheel and felt a little regretful.
It would be perfect if we could drive such a good car that we built ourselves.
(End of this chapter)
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