An interesting subject is the vehicles which are not made in China, but are made specifically FOR China.
Before, I wrote about the trucks made by the French company Berliet for China, the Berliet GCH 6×6 26 ton trucks.
There was a predecessor. The Chrysler Company developed the Dodge T234 in 1944, especially for the Nationalist Army to fight against the Japanese. The car had the nickname ‘Dodge Burma truck’ as it was meant for use at the Burma and Ledo highway.
The Dodge T234 Burma truck was a 3 ton 4×2 cargo truck, equipped with a 5431cc 6-cylinder 118hp liquid-cooled side valve engine.
Sizes: wheelbase 4320mm, LxWxH 6740x2240x2930mm. The car had right hand drive. A total of 15.000 units was made.
A lot of these trucks stayed in China after the Communist winning the civil war. They played a main role in the reconstruction of the country.
Some trucks continued military service, then in the PLA. Others were converted to buses, or were still in use as civilian trucks. Here some images.
These trucks had an empty weight of 4500kg and a gvw of 9070kg.
Wheels & Tracks, number 28, 1989, editor Bart Vanderveen.
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/BurmaTruck/Burma-Intro.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_T-,_V-,_W-Series#Dodge_T-234_%22China_/_Burma%22_truck
https://www.sohu.com/a/291914421_264829
Ward’s Auto World, May 1979, “Chrysler Corporation. Establish truck repair and maintenance basis in China.”
It appears a few might survive (mostly in Australia):
https://archive.armorama.com/imageevent.com/vc40wc41/burmadogetrucks-jsessionid=cywsk4orn1.camel_s-n=0-z=2-c=2-x=1-m=14-w=0-p=0
Many thanks, Ben, for the interesting link! I looked for the photos of the 1949 and 1950 military parades in Beijing and here they are. Interesting that there are still some in Australia.
The picture shot in Chengdu is quite interesting, an CA-10 cabin on the T234. Dodge cabin have more curves on the door, and detail of windshield is also different. But cabin from CA-10 perfectly fits dodge.
You have a good eye, vento! Thanks for your comment, always welcome!
The another interesting thing is the last picture, between the ca10 and warsaw, I think there is a Land Rover serie 1 or 2. I am not sure is a official imported one or the PLA seized from North Korea
Yes you are right, Siyi. I don’t know, it can also has been an embassy car of from a foreign company.