It combines a legendary off-roader and god-tier tuner engine into one incredibly ugly truck. But if it eats boost for breakfast, do you even care?
Telling it requires turning the clock all the way back to 1984, when Jeep‘s owner AMC became the first western carmaker to establish production in China. Under government-mandated joint venture Beijing Jeep, it cranked out a combo of Russian UAZ-based off-roaders and license-built XJ Cherokees for the Chinese market. When Jeep was bought by Chrysler—then in its Diamond Star Motors era—it became a cousin of Mitsubishi, which lent it the 2.4-liter 4G64, setting the stage for what’s to come.
BAW BJ2022 Warrior in 2007. Max Smith, public domain
When I say “new,” I use that term loosely: It was based on the XJ, but with a slightly larger body and an added inch to the wheelbase. BAW also switched its front suspension from multilink to a choice of MacPherson strut or leaf springs. As before, the rear is a leaf-sprung solid axle.
BAW BJ2022 in military spec. Web Archive via SinoDefence.com
First built in 2005, the XJ-derived BJ2022 would outlast the Cherokee, and remains in production today. Like China’s Hummer H1 clone, it too spawned a civilian version, the Yongshi (or Warrior). Introduced in 2017 or so, it has been produced in a variety of body styles, from single-cab pickups to four-door SUVs, and with a variety of engines. While military models are said to use Isuzu and Nissan diesels among other motors, the civilian version is said by Chinamobil.ru to employ a series of Mitsubishi engines. And one of them is a 4G63T.
It’s not clear how widely produced this version of the BAW Yongshi is, but these trucks don’t seem to be very hot sellers. Good Car Bad Car reports only 7,889 total sales in China from 2017 through 2020, and the 4G trucks can only make up a fraction of those.
But if you’re getting ideas for your breakout build as a YouTuber, there’s no need to learn Mandarin to navigate Chinese used car listings. It looks like you can just straight-up order one new from BAW through Made-in-China, which offers it in single- and crew-cab spec. The only transmission option is a six-speed manual, and a two-speed four-wheel-drive transfer case is standard. The cost? As little as $9,000.
Obviously, it’ll be a cold day in hell before you could ever register a BAW Yongshi with the DMV, but you could do worse when it comes to farm trucks. Or for that matter, a race truck, if you’re willing to gamble on a mutated Jeep XJ with a Mitsubishi engine. If you aren’t, someone else probably is, and they’re gonna build the ugliest goddamn sand rail you’ve ever seen. And that’s saying something.
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