Jeep identified after 37 years: the Wuqi products from the Beijing PLA 3401 Factory.

In 1980 the Englishman Oliver Barnham travelled through China and took pictures of every local made vehicle he could find. He took pictures of a BJ212-style jeep in Chonqging and Shanghai.
Both cars had military plates.

The jeeps were different from the Beijing BJ212 and similar to the Shanghai SH211A except that twin headlights were fitted in front and that the rear boot lit operated by a handle at top centre and not by clasps as is usual on Chinese jeeps.

We never identified these jeeps.

A couple of weeks ago I visited mr. Tang and mr. Lou in Shenzhen, two of the many Chinese interested in Chinese car history. And surprisingly, in their large collection I found a photo of the same jeep.

Not only a photo, but also an indication about the manufacturer: the People’s Liberation Army 3401 Factory in Beijing and a name of the products: Wuqi (5.7) which is probably a military date: the seventh of May I suppose, but I don’t know what important day that is.

More pictures of this factory showed up, in the form of a little booklet, dated July 1, 1970 with one picture showing the whole production range: the BJ212 style jeep, named Wuqi ZH70, a minibus resembling the early Tianjin TJ620, named Wuqi 620, two trucks of which one looks like the contemporary Jiefang CA30A and surprisingly a car. A car I have never seen. Only one prototype made??

About the Wuqi ZH70, we have some technical info, which is quite similar to the BJ212: engine 75 hp, maximum speed 98 km/h, sizes 3800/1730/1850, five seats.

No information about the car, but as the Wuqi 620 and the Wuqi ZH70 most logically had the BJ492 engine as their engine, it is not a wild guess to think that the car had the same engine (like the early Beijing products as the BJ760 and BJ750) and even was built on a Beijing chassis.

The PLA 3401 Factory changed in to the Beijing Yanjing Machinery Works in 1981 and Beijing Yanjing Auto Works in 1987.