Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Yanjing Auto

Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF): Yanjing Auto, a brand owned by the Beijing Yanjing Auto Factory (北京燕京汽车厂). In the 1980’s and 1990’s the factory produced buses, minibuses, and SUVs under the Yanjing brand. Have a beer, get some chips, because this is a long read.

Yanjing is an old name for Beijing. There are a lot of products using the Yanjing name, most famously the tasty Yanjing Beer. However, this beer business has nothing to do with the car maker.

The car company was originally founded in 1950 as the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) 3401 Plant (中国人民解放军3401工厂), based in the capital Beijing. This was initially a vehicle repair shop factory owned by the armed forces.

The original factory gate. The photo was taken later, as we can see from the minibus, which was introduced in the 1980’s. It has the original name on the pillar on the left side, with the numbers written in characters (第三四零一工厂, or ‘The 3401 Factory’).

The 3401 had a special function; it served as the exclusive repair shop for the headquarters of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the highest national defense organization in China, controlling all political and military matters concerning the PLA. From the 1950’s until well in the 1990’s, military ownership of car makers was normal. In fact, many of today’s best known Chinese automotive brands have their origins in the armed forces.

In the late 1970’s, the company started to make cars and buses. This was right in the middle of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). The brand name was ‘Wu Qi’ (五七), and this referred to the May Seventh Cadre Schools (五七干校), established by Mao Zedong and usually located in remote and poor rural areas. Naming brands after the revolution and after revolutionary policies or places was common among Chinese companies at the time.

The first Wu Qi car was the ZH70, a cool soft-top 4×4 off-road utility vehicle based on the Beijing BJ212. Many smaller Chinese automakers made all sorts of cars based on the BJ212. Basic design was usually the same, but some tried to add something special. The Wu Qi had a unique grille, headlights, and indicator lights. Note the light units; there is a white light on the outside and a yellow light on the inside.

The five-seat Wu Qi ZH70 was powered by the four-cylinder BJ492 gasoline engine with an output of 75 hp and a 98 km/h top speed.  See more about the ZH70, and the initial challenge of identifying it, in this earlier article by Erik.

Next up was the Wu Qi 620, launched in 1970. The text under the photo is: “五七” 牌 620 轻型客车。= Wu Qi brand 620 light-duty bus. It was based on the Tianjin TJ-620 bus. The Tiannjin TJ-620 was a popular base-vehicle for buses produced by other manufacturers, just like the Beijing BJ212 was for off-road utility vehicles.

The Tianjin TJ-620.

Yanjing added its own design features, like a new grille, new headlights and indicators, and new decorative design under the windshield. Like the TJ-620, the Wu Qi 620 was painted in an attractive dual-tone scheme, with a white top and a light bottom.

Yanjing also tried to produce a sedan, seen on the left, and medium and heavy trucks, seen on the right. As far as we know these were never mass produced.

The sedan looked impressive, mixing design elements of Cadillac and ZIL limousines. It could have been a nice competitor for Hongqi.

A New Name

In 1980, the PLA 3401 Plant was renamed to Beijing Yanjing Machinery Factory (北京燕京机械厂). The factory was located at No. 8 Taiping Street, next to Taoranting Park, Xuanwu District, Beijing.

Sadly, this area was modernized some years ago, and there is nothing left of the old factory. It was about here.  Even the district didn’t survive the times; Xuanwu was merged into the larger Xichang District in 2010.

It was around this time that Yanjing got serious about car making, launching a series of ambulances and buses.

Yanjing YJ420 and YJ420A

The Yanjing YJ420 was an ambulance with a flat roof. There was a lot of chrome on the car; the bumpers, door handles, window frames, wipers, and most notably the mirrors.

The YJ420A was a variant of the ambulance with a high roof. The example on the photo is likely a slightly newer car, as it has more modern black mirrors.

Yanjing YJ620 and YJ620A

The Yanjing YJ620 was the company’s first passenger bus. It has the same basic design as the ambulance, with a flat-roof and some super cool striping on the sides. For these buses, Yanjing also added a new V-shaped logo, this logo was only used for one generation of buses.

A beautiful advertisement photo, scanned by Erik, with the Yanjing YJ620 seen in the mountains to the west of Beijing.

The YJ620 was powered by a water-cooled four cylinder 2455 cc gasoline engine designated CS492 Q.  It had an output of 85 hp and 181 Nm. Top speed was 100 km/h. The YJ620 seated 11 persons including driver and co-driver/guide. Size: 4950/1935/1935, with a 2600 wheelbase and a 1880 kg curb weight. Fuel consumption was a very steep 14.7 liters per 100 kilometers.

This is a bit of an odd one. The company called it the YJ620 Travel Car. It has a high roof, but not as high as on the high-roof ambulance. Let’s call it an ‘intermediate roof’ version. Height was 2175. On the top-right of the advertisement the Yanjing logo, but it also has the V-shaped logo on the front.

Changing Name Again

In 1987, the company changed name again. They changed ‘machinery’ for ‘automobile’, to illustrate the new focus on cars, as opposed to being a repair shop that also made some cars. The new name was: Beijing Yanjing Automobile Factory (北京燕京汽车厂).

Yanjing YJ620 and 620A Update

The first car after the name change was an updated version of the YJ620. The V-shaped logo was gone, replaced by the standard Yanjing logo. The bus stands at the factory gate, with the name in traditional Chinese characters (北京燕京汽車廠).

The high-roof 620A at the same spot. It also had a Latin script ‘Yanjing’ badge on the right side of the front (left on pic).

A log line of YJ620A’s in the factory, with workers working on the engines.

The YJ620A was a great looking bus, the striping on the sides was typical for the 1980’s. The line on the side of the raised roof is especially cool. The updated version used the same motor as the old one, and the size was the same too. Thanks to an old catalogue, we even know the tire size: 16 inch!

 The rear lights were tiny and fitted in a chromed frame. Four seats in the back, must have been tight.

Yanjing YJ5020

The YJ5020 was an updated variant of the YJ620A. The chromed window frames were replaced with rubber strips and the  chromed bumpers changed to rubber too. The grille changed from a chromed unit to a black plastic one. And finally, the Yanjing logo moved from the area above the grille to the grille itself. There were three versions: the YJ5020 Super roof passenger wagon, the YJ5020 Super roof van, and the YJ5020 GD Super roof ambulance. ‘Super Roof’ was the English name for the high roof version. It seems there was no standard-roof version of the YJ5020. The engine and size were all carried over from the YJ620.

Yanjing YJ6500

The Yanjing YJ6500 was the successor of the YJ5020, but again it was more of an update than a totally new model. It has the black grille with the logo in the middle, and the bumper is painted in gray. The wheel covers are new, featuring a more complex design than before. The plate is notable: 燕京汽车, simply ‘Yanjing Auto’. The bus stands at the factory gate again. Note the red pickup truck in the background. A locally made Dacia, perhaps?

The specifications remained largely the same again, but torque went up from 181 Nm to 192 Nm, but the top speed stayed at 100 km/h. The example on Erik’s photo is painted in a sweet brown/orange/white color scheme.

Yanjing YJ6400

The YJ6400 ‘light bus’ was Yanjing’s first van. Design was largely borrowed from the first generation Nissan/Datsun Vanette (C120). A lot of Chinese car companies used similar designs at the time. It had a ‘handwritten’ 燕京 logo on the right side of the front (left on picture).

The Yanjing YJ6400 was powered by a locally made 1.4 liter Mitsubishi 4G33 engine with an output of 80 hp. Top speed was 100 km/h and fuel consumption a decent 9 liter per 100 kilometers. It could carry 8 persons including the driver. Size: 3900/1610/1960, with a 2080 wheelbase.

Yanjing YJ2020

The Yanjing YJ2020 is the best known of all Yanjing cars, and rightly so, because it is a big beauty of a machine. Production started in 1985. Design was inspired by the Nissan Petrol but not too much. The basic design is almost elegant, and I especially like the complicated construction of the mirror and mirror stalk. The mirror itself has a square shape. It had the Yangjing logo on the grille and two fog lights on the bumper. The YJ2020 was originally developed for the army but Yanjing also sold civilian variants.

Yanjing YJ2020 update 1

As always, the YJ2020 was updated many a times. The first update included a black grille. The mirror stalk remains the same, but the mirror itself has a different shape and color.

Yanjing YJ2020 update 2

The second update in 1987 included a new mirror design, which is somewhat sad. The Yangjing logo was replaces by ‘YANJING’ lettering. This gray example looks very pretty, with steel wheels and a blue interior.

A brochure referring to the not entirely successful Great Leap Forward.

One with different wheels, still with a blue interior. The YJ2020 was powered by a six-cylinder ‘LS685Q’ gasoline engine. This motor was developed and produced by a state-owned company in Shaanxi Province, but I have been unable to find out which company exactly. Output was 135 hp for a 125 km/h top speed. Gearbox was a 5-speed manual, sending horses to all four wheels.

The YJ202 seated nine people, with four in the rear compartment, sitting 2 by 2 on small benches on each side of the vehicle. The second row had 3 seats, and the front row two. It was a large car: 4690/1690/1950, with a 2970 wheelbase and a 2100 kg unloaded weight. Max load was 745 kilo, max gradebility was 60%, and max fording dept was 0.6 meter.

A military delegation visiting the Yanjing factory in 1987. In that year, the YJ2020 received an optional window located at the front of the raised roof, kindly pointed out by a member of the delegation.

It appears that Yanjing didn’t just sell the standard YJ2020 to the army. On a small photo in an old brochure you can see two soft-top army off-road vehicles based on the YJ2020.

1992: Ford comes to have a look

A very interesting episode was a visit to Yanjing Automobile by a delegation from Ford in December 1992. This visit seems forgotten in China, I haven’t seen any mentions of it in articles about Yanjing’s history, and it also isn’t mentioned on the company’s old and current websites. Ford was looking for a partner to maintain Ford cars in China. At the time, foreign car makers were not allowed to fully own their maintenance centers.

The article explains that in 1992 China imported about 120.000 passenger cars, 3000 of which were Fords. The article is not totally correct. In fact, in 1992 China imported 3010 Fords, all of the Ford Tempo model. These cars were bul-ordered by the Chinese government under a murky trade deal with the United States government. The cars arrived in China with U.S. specifications and without any support from a dealer network. Hence the need for Ford to check out Yanjing, but companies never reached an agreement.

A 1992 newspaper advertisement showing the YJ6500 and the YJ2020. Via: kongfz.com.

A 1992 brochure showing a very nice civilian example with the high-roof window and orange-red striping.

Shots of the interior and the design department at Yanjing. The top-right photo shows the bench-arrangement in the rear.

Photos with the now well-known factory gate. A gray base model and high-spec car with the orange striping. Bottom-right shows another military delegation.

The One That I Met

In the spring of 2014 I met a first-update YJ2020 army version on a car market in Beijing, near Ikea. The market is sadly gone now, I came there almost every week, spotting cool cars. The YJ2020 looked rugged and mighty, with an army registration of the left side of the bumper (right side on photo).

It is always striking how basic these cars are when you see them in person. Basic, but beautiful. It has the complicated mirrors and big off-road tires. The glass surface area is enormous, try to find that on a modern car!

The interior with cloth seats. Note the gear lever and the lever for the four-wheel drive system.

The Yanjing badge on the steering wheel.

Mud flaps and an army-style bumper with a tow hook.

The car stood in front of a small repair shop, but it wasn’t for sale. I never saw it again.

Yanjing YJ5021

Back to buses! The YJ5021 became Yanjing’s main minibus. It looked way more modern than the older cars, and it was painted in a two-tone color scheme. The YJ5021 was powered by a ‘491QE’ 2.2 liter four-cylinder petrol engine with an output of 95hp, good for a 119 kilometer per hour top speed. Transmission was a four-speed manual, sending power to the rear wheels.

The engine was developed and manufactured by the Shenyang Xinguang Brilliance Automobile Engine Corporation, a subsidiary of Brilliance ‘Huachen’ Automotive. This engine company still exists and sells engines to various local Chinese automakers. Size of the YJ5021: 4950/1945/2100, and wheelbase is 2600.

The factory was modernized too.

The next name change

In 2003 the Chinese government was going through one of its many ‘restructure’ phases, where it tried to consolidate to automotive sector. As we know, they still haven’t really succeeded. In Beijing, the government initialized a merger between Yanjing Automobile Factory and the Zhongda Industrial Group from Jiangsu Province. The new company was called Beijing Zhongda Yanjing Automobile Co., Ltd. (北京中大燕京汽车有限公司).

YJ5021 update

The first car produced under the new mane was an update of the YJ5021. The update brought a new bumper and grille design, and the mirrors got a bit smaller. Size and engine remained the same. Yanjing launched several new variants too, including the YJ5021XJHA ambulance.

The XJ5021XFYA was a so-called ‘Epidemic Prevention Vehicle’ (防疫车), fitted with apparatus to prevent and stop epidemics. This kind of vehicles were also made by many other Chinese car makers, and they had a blue cross instead of a red one. It could seat 5-8 persons, depending on configuration, with a max load of 650 kilo.

Finally, the YJ5021XXYA was a panel van version, with a maximum load capacity of 510 kilo and a curb weight of 1880 kilo.

One That I Saw

In the summer of 2015 I met a YJ5021 in Beijing, in a small compound near the Sanlitun embassy area. The vehicle was obviously abandoned and used to store stuff, but it wasn’t in a very bad shape. I saw it standing there many times more until one day it was gone.

This was the bus variant with 11 seats, with a door placed in the middle of the side. The door handles and mirrors were still on the vehicle.

The rear door is hinged at the roof, which is somewhat unusual for this kind of vehicle.

Yanjing YJ6501

The last Yanjing-developed minibus we know about is the YJ6501, an updated variant of the YJ5021. It has a slightly more streamlined front, revised bumpers, and a new paint job. The gray-black one looks especially nice, with an orange stripe and white curtains. Both cars on the photo have military license plates. The engine was the same as in the  YJ5021.

 Specialty Car Maker

From then on, Yanjing went to various ownership changes, too complex and messy to describe here in detail. If you want, you can find more information here and here. The mess included the local government, the central government, an abandoned plan to make electric buses, competing car makers, and whatnot more. In the end, Yanjing Auto ceased to be a car maker. Instead, they became a so-called ‘specialty car maker’, building vehicles for specific purposes based on cars made by other manufacturers. They created a line of touring cars, cattle trucks, and dump trucks. One vehicle stood out:

YJ6560

The YJ6560 was a minivan with a design inspired by Dodge vans, including a Dodge-like grille. It had a raised roof which was even more raised in the middle, The body kit looks like it can fall apart at any moment. This is a factory image, provided by Yanjing to a government catalogue.

It was a large vehicle: 5700/2060/2270, wheelbase is 3570. It was available with 3 engines: a 2.7 liter 4-cylinder ‘JM495QF-E’ gasoline unit with 150 hp, a 3.0 liter V6 ‘BN6V87QE’ gasoline unit with 160 hp and 248 Nm, and a  2.4 liter 4-cylinder Mitsubishi ‘4G64S4M’ with 130 hp. The latter was made in China by the Shenyang-Mitsubishi engine-making joint venture.

Name change, again

In 2006, the venture was once again restructured, and the new company was called Beijing Zhongzi Yanjing Automobile Co., Ltd. (北京中资燕京汽车有限公司). The specialty-car making business was all gone.

Instead, this Yanjing Auto went back to its roots, building vehicles for the Chinese armed forces. Their main offering is the Weishi, based on the Russian GAZ Tigr armored Infantry Mobility Vehicle (IFV). Basic design is the same, but there are quite a lot of differences in details.

In 2008, Yanjing Auto and Russian’s state-weapon export company Rosoboronexport signed a deal for local production of the Tigr in China. The Chinese name, Weishi (卫士), is best translated as Defend [the] Land. The official English name is Defender. Yanjing Auto has been producing the Weishi, in various versions, ever since. The started out with the base version and they have since developed their own variants as well, including one fitted with a Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS.)

In 2010, I met some of their cars on a police equipment show in Beijing.

The Weishi has a maximum speed of 135km/h, a cruising range of 900km, and a ground clearance of 400mm. Size: 5700/2300/2300mm, and a wheelbase of 3300mm. Base engine is a Dongfeng-Cummins ISDe 40-Series 8.3 liter V6 turbo diesel engine, good for 240 hp and 800 Nm. For more power, customers can go for a Yuchai YC 10.3 liter V6 supercharged diesel engine, made by the Guangxi Yuchai Group. This mighty motor has 300 hp and 1100 Nm, which is more power than any of the engines in the Tigr make.

Yanjing YJ6470

In 2009, photos appeared on Chinese car websites of an all-new Yanjing vehicle designated the YJ6470. It was a modern SUV with a design inspired by the Mitsubishi Pajero. Well, it had a Mitsubishi engine anyway. This was once more the 2.3 liter ‘4G64S4M’ with 130 hp, good for a 140 km/h top speed. Gearbox was a five-speed manual. Size: 4710×1860×1790, 2750.

The car looked ready for production and in 2009 it sure would have had a chance of selling in good numbers. But sadly noting came of it and I have never seen any other photos.

Today

The company still exists, making ever more variants of the Weishi. These vehicles are used by China’s armed forces, the People’s Armed Police (PAP) and by specialized SWAT and anti-terrorism units. I have approached the company, in Chinese, asking for old photos and such, but I didn’t get a reply. I will send them a link to this article!

And with that, this story ends. I am already working on the next installment in this series but as you may have guesses writing these stories takes a lot of time. See you soon.

Sources: old books, old catalogues, my archive, Erik’s archive, Webarchive, and a trillion websites.