Behold the magnificence of the Beijing Auto or BAIC BJ80. It is proof that China still thinks the world isn’t looking…but it is. It’s not hard to see it’s a blatant rip-off of the Mercedes G-Wagen, with a kind of Jeep/Hummer grille grafted on, along with slightly altered Land Rover Defender headlight assemblies.
Everything from the prominent bonnet to the upright A-pillar and square shape screams Gelanderwagen, but it seems that in China this will make the car more popular, instead of getting people riled up against it…
You may smirk when you hear that the BJ80 started out in life as a military vehicle, just like its German/Austrian inspiration.
Everything is so blatant that we wonder why Mercedes has not already sued the pants off these so-called automakers that make so-called cars penned by so-called designers. This is not a good direction for the industry to turn to, but apparently originality is a concept unheard of at Beijing Auto.
It would have been even more amusing for the company to have its Beijing auto show stand next to Mercedes’; would they have noticed then?
By Andrei Nedelea
Photos via Sohu
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