Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Beijing Sanxing. This was a brand owned by a company called Beijing Sanxing Automobile Factory (北京三兴汽车厂). In the 1990’s they made a series of large SUVs.
This Sanxing should not be confused with the much better known Sanxing Auto (三星汽车) from Guangdong Province. The Sanxing characters differ. The Beijing company is 三兴 and the Guangdong company is 三星.
Beijing Sanxing Automobile was founded in 1956 as the 3603rd Factory of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (中国人民解放军第三六零三工厂). It was a typical military business, repairing and maintaining vehicles used by the Chinese army.
In 1980 when China’s economy started to open up, they changed their name to Beijing Sanxing Automobile Factory. The company moved into specialty vehicle manufacturing; building vehicles for the army based on existing truck chassis. The company’s designation was BSX.
Later on, they added civilian specialty vehicles to their lineup, like cranes and logging trucks. They also moved into the oil storage tank business, building storage tanks and oil tanker trucks.
In the mid-1990’s the company went into car making, riding the first boom of the Chinese car industry. They basically made one car: a large five-door body-on-frame SUV in five variants. Most cars were sold to the army and other government agencies.
In the late 1990’s the boom ended and many new car makers went down. This included Sanxing the car maker, but the rest of the business survived. In 2002 they became part of a larger company called Xinxing Machinery Group Corporation (新兴机械集团公司).
The company became a little bit more famous in 2009 when their army oil tankers participated in the military parade to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.
The company still exists today, under the name Xinxing Heavy Industry Beijing Sanxing Automobile (新兴重工北京三兴汽车有限公司). They make all sorts of specialty vehicles, including tankers, for the army and for utility companies. As a nice nod to their origins, the 3603 name and the BSX designation still form their website’s address.
Now to the car! There were five versions: BSX6470, BSX6470Y, BSX6471, BSX6471Y, and the BSX6472. Production started around 1992 and lasted until around 1998. A short run, but the cars were interesting nevertheless. In the 1990’s, the factory was located in Fengtai District in southwest Beijing. The old gate is still there!
Beijing Sanxing BSX6470
The BSX6470 was a boxy and pretty SUV, with large windows and a healthy dose of chrome. The bumpers, wheels and mirrors are especially shiny. All Sanxing cars had a high raised roof for more space inside.
The BSX6470 was classified as a light-bus (轻型客车). This was a typical Chinese classification used on vehicles with a length between 3.5 and 7 meters intended to transport passengers. It didn’t really matter if the vehicle was intended for private buyers, companies, or the government. What mattered was the length and the intention to carry passengers.
The BSX6470 could carry 7-9 people, including the driver. The seven-seat versions had a 2/3/2 layout. The nine-seat version had a 2/3/2-2 layout, with two opposing benches in the back. It was a sizable vehicle: 4730/1780/1950, with a 2970 wheelbase and a 1670 kg curb weight.
The chassis was sourced from another company, called Shijiazhuang City Auto Factory (石家庄城市汽车制造厂). The chassis designation was SQ6450. This company made various cars and supplied chassis and engines to other car makers. The chassis came complete with engine and gearbox.
The 2.2 liter ‘491Q’ petrol engine (491Q汽油机) was based on an old Toyota design and in the 1990’s it was produced in many variants by dozens of Chinese car makers and engine-making companies. The most common size was 2.2 liters but there were also 2.0 and 2.4 liter variants.
Output in the BSX6470 was 92 hp and 175 Nm. Horses went to the rear wheels via a 5-speed manual gearbox. Top speed was 130 km/h and fuel consumption a steep 9 liters per 100 kilometers.
Beijing Sanxing BSX6470Y
The BSX6470Y was largely the same car, with the same design and size. But there was an important difference under the skin: the BSX6470Y had four-wheel drive (4×4) whereas the BSX6470 was a 4×2 car.
This extra parts needed for 4×4 led to a higher curb weight of 1800 kilo and a lower top speed of 125 km/h. Oddly, Sanxing claimed the same fuel consumption of 9L/100km, which must have been an oversight.
The Enterprise Gold Card (企业金卡) was a novel way of advertising in the 1990’s where a company paid the China Post to print stamped postcards with a company advertisement. The ‘Enterprise Gold Card’ post cards were then distributed by the company among employees, customers, and on auto shows. These cards are now highly collectible in China, and for me they are great for finding photos of rare cars. Later on, China Telecom launched a similar program with telephone cards. I have several Volkswagen-sponsored phone cards for example. Will share some pics later!
A 1995 Enterprise Gold Card with a two Sanxing vehicles: a Steyr based emergency vehicle and a BSX6470 SUV.
The SUV was fitted with an optional bull bar and cool red-black decals on the side and roof. Steyr trucks were assembled in China by a joint venture with China National Heavy Truck Group (CNHTC or Sinotruk Group). Many specialty vehicle makers used the Steyr chassis for their own creations, including Beijing Sanxing. But that’s stuff for another story.
Beijing Sanxing BSX6471/BSX6471Y
The BSX6471 and BSX6471Y were modernized variants of the BSX6470 and BSX647oY. Design wise, the most notable differences are the new alloy wheels, the new front bumper, the black wheel arch extensions, and the new decals on the side and roof.
The BSX6471 was again the 4×2 and the BSX6471Y the 4×4. Interestingly, the Y got an updated variant of the engine, designated 492Q. Size was 2.4 liter, but output didn’t change much. It had in fact less horses, 84, and a little more torque: 181 Nm.
Beijing Sanxing BSX6472 ‘Desert King’.
The BSX6472 was the top-spec car. It also had a real name, and a very cool one: Sanxing Desert King (三兴沙漠王). The name is on the leaflet on the left in a handwritten front, with a big red 王.
The front was redesigned with a new grille, round headlights, and it had a bulge in the bonnet. Design was inspired, or so it seems, by the Nissan Patrol, which, at the time, was assembled in China as well. There were new decals once again, larger wheels, and the mirrors were painted black. It was a fantastic looking car and I actually dreamed of finding and buying a good one. Sadly, none ever crossed my path…
The BSX6472 was a 4×2 and although it looked much more like a passenger vehicle it was still rated as a 7 to 9 seat light-bus. It was a bit bigger, mainly caused by the larger bumpers and wheels: 4740/1850/2000. Wheelbase was still 2970 and curb weight was up to 1810 kilo.
What mattered most, however, was the new engine under the long bonnet. Out went the 491Q/492Q and in came the CA488. This is a very interesting motor. It was based on the famous ‘Chrysler 2.2 Engine‘. In 1987, FAW bought the rights to this engine from Chrysler Corporation and renamed it to CA488. FAW used it for many of its own cars and sold it to other Chinese car makers, including Beijing Sanxing.
It wasn’t exactly progress. The 2.2 liter CA488 delivered 88 hp and only 157 Nm of torque. Top speed was 120 kilometers per hour. In China, the CA488 was known as a thirsty engine. However, Beijing Sanxing again claimed a fuel consumption of 9 liters per 100 kilometer.
I am not sure why the newer and more-passenger oriented CA6472 got a lesser engine. It was probably cheaper, or perhaps Beijing Sanxing couldn’t get their hands on the 491Q engines anymore.
An impressive trio of CA6472’s, with the optional bull bars.
The fire truck
Many of the vehicles made by Beijing Sanxing went straight to various local government agencies, mostly in the Beijing area. But this fire vehicle, seemingly based on the BSX6470, was spotted in Shanghai!
There are boxes in the back, likely for fire fighting equipment. It has a light bar on the roof with flash lights and a siren.
Characters: 北京三兴汽车厂, Beijing Sanxing Automobile Factory.
And this great fire truck to extinguished this story. As usual, I will update when more information or photos become available. I have sent an email to Xinxing Heavy Industry Beijing Sanxing Automobile, asking for old pics and such. Let’s hope they reply.
Next up in this series is Beijing Yanjing Autombile. A somewhat similar name but they made way more cars, including buses and pickup trucks. So that’ll take me a while, and I am also busy with CoolCarsInChina.com and with CarNewsChina.com. See you soon.
Awesome read! That was quick haha