A fantastic dark blue Wuling LZ 100 mini truck, seen in the great city of Dali in Yunnan Province in 2006 during a long trip through southern China. The car was likely made in the late 1990’s. It was in a very good shape, with the original decals, and wheels. The rear freight container was a factory option. Note the Changan-Suzuki Alto City Baby on the left side of the road.
Another LZ100, seen in the same year on the same trip, in the great city of Beihai in the far south of Guangxi Province. This is the passenger-car variant with a sliding door and a heightened roof. Note the blue-painted wheels and the indicator on the door.
This particular car belongs to a government agency called the Industry and Commerce Law Enforcement Patrol.
Liuzhou Automobile Industry Corporation, later Liuzhou Wuling Automobile, later Wuling Motors, was founded in 1982. In 1986 they agreed to a deal with Mitsubishi to produce and sell the Mitsubishi L100 Minicab in China. Until the early 2000’s, all Wuling mini cars were direct ascendants of this agreement.
Today, Wuling is best known for the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture, which makes cars under the Wuling and Baojun names. So right now there are three entities selling cars under the Wuling brand:
- the original Wuling Motor, making mostly minivans.
- the joint venture.
- Liuzhou Wuling, making LSEVs.
Also in Beihai, a police car with flashlights on the roof, and a white police license plate. The Wuling LZ100 was powered by a 0.8 liter 3-cylinder petrol engine, based on a Mitsubishi design.
Today these older Wuling mini cars are a very rare thing to see. The further south and the further countryside the more may be still alive.