Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Xingtai Auto Works

Xingtai Auto Works was founded in 1969 in Shahe Village to the southeast of Xingtai city. In my article on Xingtai 114 Auto Works I said that Xingtai 114 was one of the main manufacturers in Xingtai. However this is not exactly true and recent research has shown that Xingtai 114 was in fact an offshoot of Xingtai Auto Works, mainly focusing on the production of speciality vehicles such as ambulances, though they did make some regular vehicles such as buses. This explains why Xingtai 114 sold vehicles with Xingtai badging like Xingtai Auto Works. However, both companies were given unique company identifiers with Xingtai Auto Works getting XT and Xingtai 114 getting XTQ.

Xingtai Auto Works’ early history is very difficult to find and so we have to start our story a bit later. Their products in the late 1970’s were very much similar to buses and trucks being produced by many other manufacturers around China as was common at the time.

One of Xingtai Auto Works’ early products was a 15-22 seat bus called the XT634.

There appears to have been a truck called the XT133 with a similar front design to the XT534. The XT133 was based on the BJ130.

Xingtai Auto Works XT620

In the 1980’s Xingtai Auto Works produced a small pickup truck called the XT620. The headlights appear to be from the Shanghai saloon. It is likely that the XT620 was based on the Beijing BJ121. Weirdly the XT620 is a bus according to its model designation, though as I have discussed previously this was common practice. The designation x20 also indicates it can carry between 8 and 15 passengers… also obviously very incorrect!

The XT120 was a passenger and cargo van (model designation of a truck). It had the same front fascia as the XT634 bus and XT133 truck.

In 1989 Xingtai Auto Works renamed their cars in line with the new model designation system. The XT634 became the XT6544 and got a new front fascia and a new door. The XT6544 was also based on a Beijing product in the form of the BJ1040. The XT6544 was powered by the BJ492QA – a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder petrol engine that made 70hp. The XT6544 cost just 43,000RMB in the early 1990’s.

The XT6470 was based on the SQ6450 platform produced by Shijiazhuang Automobile Works (Zhengtian). It was a station wagon with a front end obviously inspired by the S120 Toyota Crown. The XT6470 was equipped with a 492Q engine produced by Jiangxi Engine Factory.

The XT6470A was based on the same platform as the XT6470 but had a body that looked very much like the Jeep Cherokee XJ produced in Beijing. Specifications for the car were identical to the XT6470. Both the XT6470 and the XT6470A cost just above 70,000RMB in the early 1990’s.

For now this is all we know about Xingtai Auto Works. We are always on the hunt for more information so will add to articles if we come across more information. Of course we welcome our readers to provide us with more information if you have anything!