Solved: PN #577 -- Jinan JN220 (or JN200)

[pnegyesi]

I hope this jeep will be easy. Tell me the brand name and model designation and the point is yours!

[pnegyesi]

Experts?

[pnegyesi]

Easy pro point

[4popoid]

Chinese?

[pnegyesi]

yes

[4popoid]

Sanxing YJ2020?

[pnegyesi]

no

[4popoid]

Yanjing YJ2020?

[pnegyesi]

the puzzle car is much older

[4popoid]

Wuhan WH211?

[pnegyesi]

no, even older than that

[4popoid]

The oldest Chinese jeep I can think of is the Peking (Beijing) BJ212 of about 1965/'66.

[pnegyesi]

even older than that

[4popoid]

I thought you were going to say that, and I really didn't think it closely resembled a BJ212.  It looks to me like the puzzle car most closely resembles a Nissan 4W60, which was manufactured 1951-1955.  Unfortunately, I can't determine that this model was produced anywhere except Hiratsuka, Japan.  It is certainly possible that this could be some sort of contemporary Chinese knock  off, but the only references that I can find for Chinese knock offs of the Nissan 4W60 are from much later. I am reluctant to invest much more time in this line of thinking if it is a blind alley.  So, is the puzzle vehicle related to a Nissan 4W60 from the early 1950's?

[pnegyesi]

I don't think there is any relation to the Nissan jeep.

[4popoid]

Changjiang (Yangtze River) 46, by Chang'an Factory of Chongqing, from about 1958?  My reference claims this to be "China's first jeep".

[pnegyesi]

This one was also made in 1958 but not by Chang'an

[4popoid]

1958 Yue Loong YL-2?

[pnegyesi]

no

[4popoid]

Drat, I thought I had it with the Yue Loong (its brochure picture looks just like the puzzle car), although I should have known better as it was made in Taiwan, not mainland China. 

The only other Chinese jeep that I can find that dates back to 1958 is the Tianjin, but I haven't been able to find a photograph or model number.  Should I keep looking, or am I wasting my time with Tianjin?

[pnegyesi]

unfortunately it is not a Tianjin.

[4popoid]

Is it a Yuejin model?

[pnegyesi]

no

[4popoid]

Is the puzzle vehicle related to a Mitsubishi Jeep, a post-1953 licensed derivation of the Willys CL-3?

[pnegyesi]

no

But as you are so persistent, let me offer you a clue: the company is still around under a different name and it is a manufacturer of other type of motoring vehicles