The Beijing Auto New Brave Warrior is probably the
coolest pickup truck in the world, and it is now finally available on the
civilian market. The pickup truck comes in 13 variations, varying from double
cab to single cab, from long bed to short bed, from flatbed to high bed. The
designation of the flatbed cars is BJ2850, and the designation of the high bed
cars is BJ3035.
They are based on the Beijing Auto BJ2022 Brave
Warrior, originally developed as a military vehicle. The pickup truck has ‘New’
in its name because it is new for the civilian market, not because it is a new
car; military variants have been around for a while.
There are three engines available: a 112 hp/200 Nm
2.2 petrol, a Mitsubishi sourced 190 hp/250 Nm 2.0 turbo petrol, and a 136 hp/340 Nm 2.5 liter turbo diesel. The 2.2 and 2.5 diesel are mated to a
five-speed manual, the 2.0 turbo to a six-speed manual. Power goes to all four
wheels.
The 2.0 turbo is new for the series. The engine is
made locally at the Shenyang-Mitsubsihi engine-making joint venture. It also
powers classics like the Landwind X7 and the Zotye SR9, among many other
vehicles from various Chinese automakers.
The entire series is manufactured by Beijing Auto
Works (BAW), a subsidiary of the Beijing Auto Industry Corporation (BAIC) that
mostly makes rugged 4×4’s and SUVs like the BJ80, the BJ40, the BJ2022, the
BJ212, the Zhangqi, and the somewhat trendy BJ20. The size of this single cab
short-bed car is: 4850/1830/2025 mm, with a 2850 mm wheelbase. The double cab
short-bed: 5000/1830/2025 mm, with a 3035 mm wheelbase.
Happily, the interior is the same for all. Very
basic, but it does have blue detailing on the dials, which is likely the
hippest thing BAW has ever done. The sound system is very simple, just a radio
with a USB port. No CD player, not even an AUX. Number of speakers in the
entire interior: 2 (two).
The New Brave Warrior is cheap.
Very cheap. Price starts at just 78,000 yuan and ends at 98,000 yuan. That is US$ 12,340 to US$ 15,500.
