Jeep 2500 Is A Rare Cherokee XJ In China

This is the Jeep 2500, a China-only variant of the Jeep Cherokee XJ.  The XJ was made in China by Beijing-Jeep from 1984 until 2009. Over the years the joint venture literally made hundreds of variants.

[table id=115 /]

One of those was the Jeep 2500, which was made from 2003 until 2006. Design wise the 2500 was quite a jump. It had a totally new grille, new headlights, new fender flares, new bumpers, new mirrors, and an updated interior with a new dashboard. The sporty five-spoke wheels were standard, the bull bar and rear-bumper bar were factory options.

The Jeep 25oo was available with two engines: a 2.5 liter four-cylinder petrol with 116 hp and 185 Nm, and a 4.0 liter 6-in-line petrol with190 hp and 297 Nm. These engines were locally-made variants of the original AMC units. Our silver car has the 2.5 under the bonnet.

The 2.5 was mated to a five-speed manual, rear wheel drive or four-wheel drive. The 4.0 was mated to a 4-speed automatic, and always four-wheel drive.

The Jeep 2500 with the 4.0 engine is very rare. It was only made for two model years; 2003 and 2004.

The 2500 has the standard 2576 mm wheelbase, the same as the U.S. Cherokee XJ. Beijing-Jeep also made Cherokee variants with a longer wheelbase.

It wasn’t very expensive. In 2003 the 2.5 started at 119.000 yuan and the 4.0 at 158.800 yuan. There are still a lot of them on the road today. Strong fundamentals always help…

The new dash and center tunnel made for a more luxurious look. Radio may seem after-market but that was actually the factory unit. The gear lever sticks out high and wide into the interior. It also stands further forward than on older variants of the XJ.

Faux beige leather, with beige seat belts and four headrests.

There were large roof rails, a windshield wiper, an a third brake light. The taillight covers are exclusive for the 2500 and later Beijing-Jeep 2700.

BJC stands for Beijing Jeep Corporation, the full name of the joint venture.

Black license plates were issued to foreign owned companies from the 1980’s to the early 00’s. These companies could buy a car locally, and they were also allowed to import their own cars.

In the old days black-plated cars had some privileges comparable to diplomatic cars; no police officer would dare to stop them and they could basically park wherever they wanted without fear of a fine.

Nowadays, a black-plated car is counted just like all the others. The government does not issue new black plates anymore but those who have one can keep it until eternity.

Bull bar adds some danger to good old Cherokee…