Maxus is a Chinese commercial vehicle brand owned by SAIC. The brand is a continuation of the British brand LDV. SAIC purchased the assets of LDV in 2010. The Maxus V80 is a light commercial van, based, somewhat confusingly, on the LDV Maxus. Production of the Maxus V80 in China started in 2011. The car in the photos is a 2011-2012 example, fitted with cool steel wheels and with mud flaps. The Maxus V80 is still in production today, same van, but with a different nose.
The platform appears to be a wooden plank. It carries boxes and large bags. Flimsy ropes hold everything together. The bag on top is higher than the roof. However, the load doesn’t seem super heavy. The ride height seems normal. Stiff suspension perhaps, but still.
Variants and power
Maxus sold dozens of variants of the 2011-2012 Maxus V80: panel van, long-wheelbase, passenger van, high roof, you name it. Interestingly, the slightly overloaded V80 is a passenger van version, with the high roof. It has large windows on the left side, a sliding door on the right, and barn doors at the rear. The max load was nine passengers. Size: 5700/1998/2552, with a 3850 wheelbase. The V80’s motor was a 2.5-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel, with 136 hp and 330 Nm. The transmission was a five-speed manual and the top speed was 160 km/h. It had a big 80-liter fuel tank.
It is unknown if there were passengers inside the vehicle. Hopefully not, because a ride like this would not be comfortable or safe. But, you know, China is a busy place and stuff has to be moved from here to there in time. So sometimes, folks just go with what they have, and in this case that seems to work just fine.