Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Beijing Zhonglian

Today in Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF™): Beijing Zhonglian. In the 1990s and early 2000s, this brand made a bus, a series of SUVs, and a couple of minicars.

The Beijing Zhonglian (北京中联) brand was owned by Beijing Zhonglian Special Purpose Vehicle Factory (北京中联专用汽车厂). The brand’s logo was an oval badge with the characters ‘Zhonglian’ in the middle. The brand base designation was WL.

Beijing Zhonglian used chassis and engines from various other carmakers, as it was common at the time. The 1990s was in that respect somewhat comparable to today’s EV boom, where many small new car makers use platforms, motors, and battery packs made by other manufacturers.

WL5020XWX Refrigerator maintenance truck

The Zhonglian WL5020XWX was classified as a ‘refrigerator maintenance truck’ (电冰箱维修车), one of the many seemingly odd classifications that existed at the time. It was based on the Beijing BJ212, and modified with a longer cabin, a raised roof, and new side windows with a heavy-set frame. The seats appear to be orange, with white curtains behind the windows.

Size: 4658/1695/1955, 2725. Power came from a 4G54 four-cylinder gasoline engine with 88.2 kWh. Top speed was 147 km/h. It had a four-speed manual gearbox and 4×4.

It seems likely that Beijing Zhonglian made other BJ212-based variants as well, but we only have this single photo and designation.

WL5040XWX Refrigerator maintenance truck

Yes, another refrigerator maintenance truck. It looks like a bus to me. I think it has to do with China’s car production permit system. Car makers in China need a government permit for every new car model that they want to produce. That is so even today. But in the 1990s the system was much more rigid. Some companies could only make sedans, others only pickup trucks, and so on.

To get around this, car makers played various tricks: sedans were disguised as pickup trucks by taking the boot lid out, and SUVs were disguised as buses by adding a bunch of benches in the back. I suspect something similar happened at Beijing Zhonglian. In the early days, they likely had a permit to make refrigerator maintenance trucks, but not a permit to make SUVs or buses. Hence, they simply called their cars refrigerator maintenance trucks, and the problem was solved.

Size: 5420/1980/2100, with a 2800 wheelbase. It was based on a Beijing BJ6530 chassis and powered by a 62.5 kW 492QC engine.

WL5010XWX Refrigerator maintenance truck

The WL5010XWX is yet another refrigerator maintenance truck. It was based on a Changan chassis with a modified cabin. It has a unique door, the rear compartment was extended, and the roof was raised. The car in the photo has super cool black steel wheels.

WL5010X Van

Zhonglian made other versions of the WL5010 as well. This is the WL5010X van (厢式车), again based on a Changan chassis. Note the English ‘Zhonglian’ badge on the nose and the full-designation badge on the front door, below the window.

Size: 3480/1400/1730, with an 1840 wheelbase and a 910 kg curb weight. The max load (besides passengers) was 200 kg. Power came from a JL462Q engine with 26 kW for an 85 km/h top speed. Fuel consumption was 5.8L/100 km.

WL5010XBW thermal insulation vehicle

The WL5010XBW was a thermal insulation vehicle(保温车) box truck. It looks very nice in white with an orange strip on the side. The characters on the box write baowen (保温), thermal insulation.

Size: 3140/1400/1880, with an 1840 wheelbase and a 900 kg curb weight. The max load was 350 kg. Power came from a JL462Q engine with 26 kW for an 85 km/h top speed.

WL1020S light passenger truck

The WL1020S was a pickup truck. It was classified as a light passenger truck (轻型客货车). It was based on a Beijing BJ2021 chassis. It had the typical ballon-wheels that we have seen on many other pickup trucks in that period. The photo is very nice, with an old temple in the background.

Size: 4812/1848/1865, with a 2750 wheelbase. The engine was a 492QA engine with 57 kW. The top speed was 98 km/h and fuel consumption was a super steep 13 liters per 100 kilometers.

WL1021S Light passenger truck

The WL1021S is a pickup truck, a modernized variant of the WL1020S. In English marketing material, the company calls it a “light passenger cargo car”. It was based on a Tianye chassis. It has a wide B-pillar, a shiny grille, very shiny wheels, and a short bed.

Size: 4800/1760/1700, with a 2750 wheelbase. The engine was a 492QC-2 with 62.5 kW for a 112 km/h top speed. The transmission was a five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive.

Another photo of the WL1021S, this one in a flashy shade of red.

WL1022S Light passenger truck

The WL1022S was the successor of the WL1021S. It was based on a Heibao SM1022. It is a modern pickup truck with sporty five-spoke wheels and wild orange striping. The mirrors are small, and the designation is still on the front door.

Size: 4790/1660/1630, with a 2850 wheelbase. The 486Q4 engine had an output of 62.5 kW. The top speed was 120 km/h and fuel consumption was a somewhat decent 8 liters per 100 kilometers.

WL6460 light bus

The WL6460 is another typical example of tricking the permit system. Many other car makers did exactly the same thing. The WL6460 was classified by the manufacturer as a light bus (轻型客车), but it was an SUV. The designation has moved to the front fender. It has small shiny mirrors and steel wheels. I don’t have any specs on this one, but it seems to be based on the Tianye BQ6471.

WL6470 station wagon

The WL6470 appears to be the most common Beijing Zhonglian car. We have more photos of it, and Erik saw one on the road:

The WL6470 was classified as a station wagon (旅行车). It was a nice-looking car with modern bumpers, a light gray grille with the Zhonglian logo in the middle, and fog lights that were integrated into the bumper.

A period advertisement, showing a car with blue striping. The shiny wheels are beautiful. The WL6470 was again based on a Tianye, this time on the Tianye BQ6470. Beijing Zhonglian didn’t change the body, but the bumpers were of a new design.

Size: 4700/1810/1695, with a 2750 wheelbase. It could carry 5 persons + 200 kilo of luggage. The engine was a 492QC-2 with 62.5 kW and 181.3 Nm. for a 112 km/h top speed. The transmission was a 5-speed manual, rear-wheel drive.

WL5010 economy car

Beijing Zhonglian also made some minicars. The WL5010 was designated as an economy car (经济型车). Design as inspired by the Suzuki Alto, with a Nissan-style grille.

The gray car has black plastic mirrors and door handles, whereas the red car has older metal mirrors and handles. The red one is likely an earlier car. The WL5010 had a 90 km/h top speed and a fuel consumption of 5.2 liters per 1oo kilometers.

At least one has survived! Erik saw this white example in the FAW Warehouse Collection in Changchun.

WL5010XSD express delivery vehicle

The WL5010XSD is another example of permit trickery. It was classified as an ‘express delivery vehicle‘ (型速递车), but it is a five-door passenger car. It is based on an early Geely chassis, which, in turn, was based on the Tianjin Xiali. You can still see the original Xiali design in the headlights.

The steel wheels look great. The body is unique for Beijing Zhonglian, it mixes elements of a hatchback and a wagon. The designation is on the front door again.

Size: 3940/1620/1470, with a 2450 mm wheelbase and a 950 kg curb weight. Power came from a Geely JL462 3-cylinder gasoline engine with 26 hp.  The top speed was 92 km/h and fuel consumption was 5.8 liter per 100 km.

WL5020X van

The WL5020X was classified as a van but it was an SUV. The design was inspired by the second-generation Mitsubishi V20 Pajero.

The V20 has a long and complicated history in China. There was official joint-venture production,  officially licensed production, unofficial production, production under the Guangdong scheme, and many smaller Chinese car makers created Pajero clones.

The WL5020X appears to fall into the latter category. It was again based on a Tianye chassis, but it had a real 2.6-liter Mitsubishi 4G54 engine under the hood. This motor was made in China by the Shenyang-Mitsubishi engine-making joint venture, which sold engines to dozens of small Chinese car makers, so Beijing Zhonglian likely bought it off the shelf.

Size: 4685/1695/1955, with a 2725 wheelbase and a 1760 g curb weight. The engine had an output of 88.2 kW, good for a 147 km/h top speed. Fuel consumption was 5.8 liter per 100 kilometers.

Final words

And those were the cars of Beijing Zhonglian. The company simply faded away in the mid-2000s and as far as I know, it has never returned in any form. But there is more: Beijing Zhonglian was also involved in the misty Guangdong scheme, ‘manufacturing’ several Toyotas and one Subaru.