An incredible cool and very manly Beijing-Jeep Beijing BJ2020SG, seen on the streets of Beijing, capital of China, in 2012. The great Beijing was dusty and dirty, just how it should be, and looked like it just arrived from up mountain.
Soft top has seen better times and is in need of some maintenance.
The Beijing-Jeep joint venture, or fully the Beijing Jeep Corporation (BJC), is best known making the Jeep Cherokee XJ and Jeep Grand Cherokee in China. But this busy joint venture also manufactured the Beijing BJ2020-series, based on the long-running Beijing BJ212-series. The idea was to use American technology to gradually improve the BJ212/2020.
And that they did. Over the years, the joint venture launched literally dozens of improved variants of the BJ212. These were branded Beijing and made by Beijing-Jeep. Earlier on we saw a very early Beijing BJ2020N and a later Beijing BJ2020T Ludi. Time-wise, our BJ2020SG sits about in the middle between those two.
The Beijing BJ2020SG model arrived in 1993 and was made until 1997. These very short production runs normal at the time, when car makers constantly launched ‘new’ cars that were actually improved versions of the old one. The SG was always a four-door soft top, but the joint venture also made hard-top and two-door variants.
The Beijing BJ2020SG was powered by the 2.5 liter four-cylinder petrol engine with designation BN492QB18. Output was 85 hp and 181 Nm. The motor was mated to a five-speed manual gearbox sending horses to all wheels. Top speed was 110 km/h and fuel consumption 11 liters per 100 kilometers. Price in 1997 started at 53.500 yuan.
BJC on the bull bar, for Beijing Jeep Corporation.
The car was parked in front of a gigantic advertisement selling new apartments in a complex that was at the time under construction behind that wall. It is always a surprise to realize how big these BJ2020’s are. They always seem small in pictures. The SG measured 4068/1768/187o, with a 2300 wheelbase and a 1550 kg curb weight.
Beijing towers over tiny Bora behind it. Somehow, it does look a bit out of place in town. Best to take this BJ2020SG back to the mountains as soon as possible!