The latest European car to fall victim to the Chinese copy machine is the legendary Gelandewagen, Mercedes G-Class. This is the Beijing Auto BJ80, the Chinese G-Class, and as you can clearly see, it looks unbelievably tragic.
The Chinese have been coping European models for years and they have had their fair share of lawsuits as a result. That has taught them how to avoid conflicts with the rightful owners of a particular design. You need to alter just enough details so the car looks a tiny bit different than the original.
And that’s what they’ve done with the G-Class. The profile of the BJ80 is pure G-Class, but the front and rear-end designs are copied from other models. If you look close you can notice some Discovery and quite a bit of Wrangler in there.
Looks aside, the BJ80 should be a good off-roader, seeing as it is based on the military-spec 80 VJ, has a 4.0 liter V8 engine, and rides on 21-inch wheels. And it’s never coming to Europe or America. So to us it is just a joke, and a good one too.
