A very cool Mitsubishi Pajero Sport 3.0L, seen in the Chinese capital Beijing in 2016. The Pajero Sport was in great shape, painted in a dark shade of green, with gray bumpers and wheel arches, and with the original alloy wheels.
The first generation Mitsubishi Pajero Sport was manufactured in China from 2004 until 2008 by the Beijing-Jeep joint venture. This JV also made the Cherokee XJ and the Grand Cherokee.
Beijing-Jeep started business all the way back back in 1984 as a joint venture between Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) and American Motors Corporation (AMC). When Chrysler bought AMC in 1987 it became the new partner in Beijing-Jeep. This continued until 1998 when Chrysler merged with Daimler to become DaimlerChrysler.
From then on DaimlerChrysler was the new partner, but the Beijing-Jeep name continued. In 2000 DaimlerChrysler and Mitsubishi Motors agreed to form the DaimlerChrysler-Mitsubishi Alliance (wiki), where Mitsubishi was seen as the Asian component of the worldwide car company the Germans had dreamed up.
And that is how the Pajero Sport ended up at Beijing-Jeep, where it was designated ‘BJ2025’. Around the same time, the DaimlerChrysler-Mitsubishi Alliance also added the Chrysler 300C, the Chrysler Sebring, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and the Mitsubishi Outlander to the lineup.
The Beijing-Jeep joint venture changed name to Beijing Benz-DaimlerChrysler Automotive in 2004. However, the Beijing-Jeep name continued as a brand. In 2007, it was all over en Chrysler was sold to Cerberus. Daimler took control of the Chinese joint venture which was subsequently renamed Beijing-Benz, which still exists today. The last Beijing-Jeep branded cars were produced in 2009.
Enough history! Back to the car. The interior was a bit messy but in a fine shape, fitted with a 27 MC radio. The radio-cassette CD player is period original, it also had a 6-CD changer. The seat covers are an after-market accessory.
The roof rails were standard but the rack was not. In China, the Pajero Sport was available with two petrol engines: a 2.4 liter four with 127 hp and 194 Nm (2.4L), and a 3.0 V6 with 167 hp and 251 Nm (3.0L). The 2.4 had rear-wheel drive and a 5-speed manual. The 3.0 had four-wheel drive and a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic, as in this car.
Note the BJC badge. BJC stood for Beijing Jeep Corporation, the full English name of the joint venture. This badge was used on all the Beijing-Jeep cars.
Big antenna for the MC! GLS was a mid-level trim level. Price for the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport 3.0 GLS in 2004 was 319.000 yuan, which, at the time, was a pretty good deal for the amount of car you got. It turned out to be a strong car too, even today you can still find quite a lot of them in the Beijing suburbs. I’ve always liked the looks of the first generation Pajero Sport, too bad the next one wasn’t as pretty.