In 2012 my friend Tycho wrote in Car News China about Bamin. Time for a make over.
Bamin started as a repair company of the People’s Liberation Army in 1950. In 1955 it moved to Xujia Village, Jingxi Town, Fujian Province. Since 1965 the company was named People’s Liberation Army Factory Number 7427.
In the late 1980s the 7427 factory made its own version of the Beijing BJ212, named BM212A, later BM2021A. Many, many factories made their own BJ212, mostly unchanged, sometimes they added new elements.
Both the three-door BJ212A and the four-door BJ212 were produced.
In 1986 the PLA 7427 factory merged and became the Fuzhou State-owned Bamin Auto Works.
Bamin developed its own version of the BJ212, with a hardtop body and a curved front window.
In 1987 Bamin produced a new SUV based on the BJ212. This car was developed by several PLA factories together and got the common designation CJY6420. Bamin used both the CJY and the BM designation for the same car.
The Bamin factory produced 190 cars in 1987, 803 cars in 1988 and 727 cars in 1989.
And they made a crew cab pickup version.
Now we come to the most interesting part of the Bamin story: the Benz copies.
The Bamin Benz, based on the BJ212 chassis, was made in two versions: a station wagon and a pickup.
I have only three photos of the station wagon (BM6480/ BM6481).
And then the pick up (BM1020KH):
The last product of Bamin was the copy of the Mitsubishi Pajero V31, also a common design of several PLA auto factories.
Recently I found a list of Chinese Pajeros: Beijing BJ2032 Tornado; Changfeng Liebao Heijinggang, Qibing, Q6; Guangtong GTQ6490; Jincheng Pioneer GDQ6470/6471; Jinhui Mitsubishi Montero; Sanjiu Pajero; Sanxing SXZ6470/6471; Shanlu CJY6421D; Wanli WLZ5030XLD; Xinkai HXK2020. Not always accurate and there is more. But a good try!
Two probably wrongly identified vehicles in Tycho’ s article:
In 1990 I photographed this BJ212 conversion, which looks like a Bamin BM212A but is different.
And Jan van der Made, Dutch journalist, made a picture of a locally made Mercedes Station Wagon, which we related (probably wrongly) to the Bamin Benzes. There are many differences, and Jan has written:
Coincidence? The Beifan-Benz truck logo (Mercedes Benz trucks made in In ner Mongolia) is like this:
And then the end: bankruptcy, in December 2010.
The buildings are still there. The Dajia Community is using the buildings as movie theaters, song and dance halls, dormitories and classrooms.
And to end with this advertisement:
Their Pajero copy looks like the previous (seemingly original Bighorn-inspired?) CJY6420A or BM2022A body with the Pajero’s nose grafted on… seems to have the same doors and body structure as that, rather than that of the Pajero? What were they doing when they went bankrupt in 2010? Throughout the 2000s were they still dripping out these same Pajero lookalikes? It’s pretty cool that the buildings are still all there and in some use though! So much of this stuff usually gets demolished for new development now (at least that’s what was happening when I was in Chengdu and Dujiangyan with… Read more »
‘Bighorn’, no I don’t believe any Chinese would have known this car at that time Through the 2000s they have produced the Pajero-nose copy (yes, you are right, the body was the same) and they even produced the first CJY model. The MIIT announcements of the approved vehicles show these cars in production even in 2008 and 2009. Besides they have made in those years nearly 9 meter long 36 seats buses named CJY6885E.