The successor of the Beijing BJ212.

With the start of the joint venture with Jeep, a possibility showed up to use the modern 2.5-litre engine of the Cherokee in the BJ212.

Both parties had their expectations of the joint venture. Jeep (American Motors) hoped to produce, besides of the agreed Cherokee, other Jeep vehicles in China. In the first place the Americans were thinking of the Jeep Comanche, a pickup based on the Cherokee.
The Chinese were eager to replace the engine of the old BJ212.
The BJ492Q engine was a copy of the Russian UAZ469 engine, also in use of the GAZ Wolga M21 and M24. The BJ492Q was very successful, used all over China. But the 1950s-1960s engine was getting old, not very strong and also quite maintenance-sensitive.

Beijing Auto Works had already done an earlier effort to find a replacement engine. In 1982 a cooperation between Perkins engines of England and BAW was announced.

Beijing Overlander.

Two BJ212, named Overlander, a civilian and a military vehicle were both equipped with a Perkins 4.154 diesel engine. Export to South Asia, the Middle East and Latin America was planned.  Due to the venture with Jeep in 1983 the project was abandoned.

The BJ212E, planned in 1985 by the Chinese within the Beijing Jeep Corporation (that was the name for the joint venture), used the 2466 cc Cherokee 4-cylinder engine.

Page 2 describing the engines

The Americans blocked, enough reason for the Chinese to try again with a new project, a complete update of the BJ212.

In 1983-1984 a small model of the BJ214 was shown to the Americans. After intensive research, the Americans came with a list of over 200 shortcommings of the project, as a conclusion they said that the BJ212 was too old to rejuvenate.

The reason for chosing the number 214 and not 213 was that the Cherokee was already named 213: when the joint venture started the Cherokee was called BJ/XJ213.
The Chinese even made in 1987 a full-size prototype of the BJ214, licensed ‘Beijing 01 Test 0070’. The new code was BJ2131.

This was the third cancelled project to update the old BJ212/BJ2020. Finally, in 1999 the Beijing jeep BJ2020 was available with the Cherokee engine.

In 1992 the Beijing United Automobile Corporation asked the English designer mr. Steve Harper to update the BJ212 to a modern SUV. Harper designed a 1:2.5 model made of clay and resin, which was sent to Beijing together with the design documentation.

Beijing Auto Works used the design to make its own off-spring, a rough and cruel Beijing BJ6462H, which appeared in 1994.

Recently another Beijing Auto Works model was seen, made in 1995 and based on the BJ212.

There was no production. And Steve Harper, he only recently was confronted with the BAW models. He never knew that BAW had really tried to produce his cars.

In 1998 a prototype of a Beijing BJ2 project was made by the Beijing Jeep Corporation. The designer was mr. Chen Qunyi. Using a newly designed body and a Cherokee 2.5-litre engine.  Three cars were made.

The car was introduced as Beijing BJ2022 Heroic at the Beijing Auto Show 2000. A big success. Tycho wrote about the car. The sad thing was that Beijing Jeep didn’t have the money to further develop and produce the car.

So this was the end of a nice and promissing prototype.

The Chinese army was now thinking of a complete new jeep, as a successor of the BJ212. The army organized a kind of contest in 1999. Eight Chinese companies participated, including the Beijing Jeep Corporation and the Beijing Auto Works. Beijing Jeep was short-listed in the top three. The test took three years.

Beijing Jeep came with several models.
We start here with the Beijing Jeep BJ2022JG/BJ2022JL. More or less in Land Rover styling. Especially the ‘chrystal diamond’ style headlight is striking. This car was called the ‘paratrooper airborne test vehicle’.

The engine of the BJ2022JG/JL was a 3.2 liter turbo charged intercooler Chaochai diesel based on Nissan technology.

Besides of the four-door version, there was also a two-door version.

A couple of years later the vehicles were parked.

The same car stored. About the storage later.

One of the reasons not chosing this model was the design of the doors and the mudguards. Too difficult to install bullet proof steel plates.

The second model had a tough and strong design style. It was named BJ2022J.

Beijing Auto Works also participated, with the two-door Beijing Fighting Halbero. 

This is the Kia KM131 in Beijing. It seems that this jeep also took part in the Beijing contribution. I don’t know if there was any cooperation.

Beijing Jeep won the contest, not with one of these cars, but the Beijing BJ2022 Brave Warrior ( Yongshi). The military wanted a bigger, more Hummer-type vehicle, in stead of a vehicle with the smaller BJ212-sizes.

In 2002 at the Beijng Auto Show the Beijing Jeep C1 Design concept appeared.

And in the end, who survived?

With a 1.5-litre turbo engine the old Beijing BJ212 is still in production after 55 years ….

Written with help of the photo documentary “Cars and 4 x 4s from Beijing and Tianjin“, the book  北京汽车史话-北京吉普卷, the archive of the China Motor Vehicle Documentation Centre and many articles written by Tycho.
And more about Steve Harper.