Today in Crazy Car Production Days of Guangdong (CCPDoG™): Guangtong Passenger Car, a company based in the great city of Zhuhai in Guangdong Province. They produced a series of small and medium sized buses under the Jinhui Auto brand name, using the designation GTZ.
In addition to that they also ‘made’ at least five cars under the infamous Guangdong scheme in the 1990’s. Read all the details about it here. Under this scheme Guangtong Passenger Car would be approached by a third-party company to ‘manufacture’ cars, using Guangtong Passenger Car’s car-making license.
These cars weren’t really manufactured. Companies would send a shipment of cars to China. The cars would miss some crucial parts like the wheels, mirrors, or door handles. This was enough to classify these cars as car parts, avoiding the import taxes.
Companies would then send the missing parts in another container. Both containers would end up in a shed in Guangdong were they would be reunited into a working car and could be sold as a China-made vehicle, netting huge profits for everybody involved.
Usually, there would be a Guangdong company which did the assembly, a Hong Kong company that took care of the money, another Hong Kong company that orchestrated the whole thing, and a trader or car company that delivered the original vehicles.
The trader could be a completely independent entity, working without any backing or even knowledge by the vehicle’s manufacturer.
But manufacturers were involved too, using a web of shell companies to get their cars into China. Most notorious were Japanese and Taiwanese auto makers, operating on a thin edge between legal and illegal.
The biggest obstacle for the whole scheme was that every company that wanted to make cars in China, no matter how much ‘making’ they really did, needed an official car-making license by the central government.
The government however would not give a license to a misty Guangdong business, so the scheming companies had to find an existing car maker with a car-making license to piggy-back on. One of those car makers was Guangtong Passenger Car.
The known Guangtong Passenger Car cars are:
1. Toyota Previa XR10.
2. Toyota 4Runner (2nd generation)
3. Mitsubishi Pajero L040.
4. Mitsubishi Pajero V20.
5. Mitsubishi Montero V20.
Jinhui Auto logo
Toyota Previa XR10
The first generation Toyota Previa was assembled by at least four companies during the CCPDoG. The Jinhui variant had Jinhui badges front and rear.
LE trim level badge on the left, Jinhui badge in the middle, and a Previa badge on the right. License plates on both cars are of Guangdong Province.
Toyota 4Runner (Second generation)
I have only one photo of the Jinhui 4Runner, with a Ningxia license plate and a V6 badge on the grille, looking very dusty.
Mitsubishi Pajero L040
The Mitsubishi Pajero was by far the most popular car during the crazy days. Literally dozens of companies manufactured and endless number of variants. But most were second generation Pajero V20’s. The first generation L040 is a rarity. Jinhui made both!
Jinhui logo on the grille.
No visible badges on the rear. License plate of Guangdong Province.
Mitsubishi Pajero V20.
Jinhui also made the second generation Mitsubishi Pajero V20, fitted with the 3.0 liter V6 engine. The images show a high-end example with two-tone paint and a bull bar. License plate is of Guangdong Province but the number sequence is too good to be true; it could be a fake license.
Jinhui badge on the door handle.
Mitsubishi Montero V20.
The Pajero was called Montero in some markets; they are essentially the same car. Jinhui made both! This again shows the strange working of the CCPDoG; a trader would show up with a shipment of Pajero’s from country X, Jinhui would ‘build’ them. Another trader would show up with a shipment of Montero’s from country Y. Jinhui would build those too.
The Montero badge.
Jinhui badge on the door handle.
And that was Guangtong Passenger Car’s contribution to the Crazy Car Production Days of Guangdong. If you want to research this interesting company; here are a few starting points:
Jinhui Auto: 金徽汽车.
Guangtong Passenger Car: 广通客车有限公司.
Designation: GTZ.
Guangtong Passenger Car should not be confused with the similar named Guangdong Guangtong Automobile (广东通汽车有限公司). This company was based in Zhuhai as well, and also made cars during the crazy days. Crazy days indeed!
Image sources:
Previa: Daotuhuang (Weibo seems gone) and Aishidelu .
Land Cruiser: FBlife.
Pajero L040 & V20: Xuanliangge.
Montero: Aishidelu.
More CCPDoG soon!
It’s not a Land Cruiser on the picture. Clearly, it’s a 2nd gen Toyota 4Runner .
Checked and changed!