Tianjin jeep, ´Qiche he Gonglu´ magazine 1951-10.
More photos of the 1951 jeep.
But first this, researching the first years of the People’s Chinese automotive developments was not so easy.
First how I worked: from the Sinological Institute of the Leiden University in the Netherlands I borrowed a microfilm, which contained the magazine ´Qiche´ of the 1950s-1960s. Printing was only possible in negative. I projected the photos on the wall and draw them, these drawings I could use for archive and publications.
Nowadays I order the magazines via a second hand book website and I can make a perfect scan…
Nowadays it is easier:
Coming back to the 1951 jeeps; an article in ‘Qiche he Gonglu’ (1951-10), described them as China’s first automobiles.
So, in the beginning of the People’s Republic, the Tianjin 1951 jeeps had the status of China’s first automobiles, together with the ‘woody’, but with the arrival of the Dongfeng CA71 in 1958 it was that car which was China’s offcially first motor car.
Qiche magazine was followed by Qiche Jishu (Automobile Technology) and then by Auto Fan which is still existing. In the seventies-eightees a subscription was possible to get, the magazines were even sent to the Netherlands. In the ninetees a lot more publications appeared. And don’t forget Zhongguo Qiche Bao, a two-weekly newspaper, dutifully for me collected by Jan van der Made in Beijing.
wow! I love this article! Thanks Erik!
by the way, when is another article coming out?
Derek, I try to answer your message by email, but the mail is bounced, probably because your email address excepts only mail from inside the university.