(Ed. Note: The incorrect image was originally used at the top of this post. The updated image makes everything more understandable. Sorry for any confusion.) The Chinese car market is a fascinating place. It’s a land where Daihatsu Charades and Austin Maestros are seemingly immortal, where nameplates like Park Avenue and Taurus outlive their American counterparts, and where some companies pay no heed to copyright laws. Reading about the Chinese market can really take you down the rabbit hole, and it was on one of those sojourns that I learned about this Chinese car. Under the hood of this Chevrolet Lumina APV is a Chrysler engine. Also, this isn’t a Chevrolet Lumina APV. And it has RWD.
Confused? ChinaCarHistory has the full details and it’s worth the read (as are a lot of their articles). Jiangsu Nushen Automobile saw fit to knock off the body design of the Lumina APV and attach it to one of their own rear-wheel-drive platforms. The result was the Nushen JB6500, debuting in China just as the Lumina APV was being discontinued there. It was almost identical in dimensions but used a Chrysler-sourced 2.2 four-cylinder engine.
Fortunately, ChinaCarHistory has immortalized this curious creature as there’s fresh little information available elsewhere. If you search for “Nushen JB6500”, however, you’ll also find this Pontiac Trans Sport done up in Nushen livery for the 24 Hour of LeMons. That’s a theme I can really appreciate.
Related Reading:
Curbside Classic: 1991 Chevrolet Lumina APV – Go Home GM, You’re Drunk
Curbside Classic: 1994 Pontiac Trans Sport SE – Can U Get A Witness?
I was talking to a Chinese friend few days ago about it. It is mysterious how the body seems to be well made, at least from the pictures. ( other vehicles during the era had horrible sheetmetals. Even other plastic cars from the era in China were far apart coming to fit and finish )
And I’m more curious about what would be underneath. From the offset of the wheels ( I saw some other photos without hubcaps ) it appears to be old fashioned RHD axles, and I want to speculate if it could be body on frame A-body recycle? Or something equally mysterious
Most likely a body-on-frame layout copied from some Japanese truck, such as the Isuzu Rodeo which used to be widely copied in China.
The Chinese auto industry never ceases to amaze me!
It is so Chinese, isn’t it?
A zombie clone that was created in some lab and then unleashed upon the world.
A rwd , lumina minivan powered by a Chrysler motor?
That’s not going down the rabbit hole that’s stepping off the planet!
Although it’d be fun to take it to a cars and coffee and watch some heads come unglued!
With the oldest of these Nushens apparently being from 1993, they can soon be imported to the US under the 25-year rule. If any still exist, which may be doubtful.
But thinking about it… a completely unique vehicle, and with GM bodywork and Chrysler running gear, easy to maintain too!
Wow.
Their fake Cherokees are a blast too.
http://chinacarhistory.com/2018/10/20/xingtai-114/#more-3259
I’m wondering why somebody would want to imitate the “dust buster” vans in the first place. If I was a Chinese entrepreneur I would have picked the most successful product to imitate. Then again several Chinese businessmen though the Zap Xebra was a good idea.
Back then, the plastic GM minivan was highly popular in China, and at the same time there was a not so legitimate CKD Chrysler minivan going on, and a more legit Mercury minivan going too.
That’s quite interesting, and honestly sometimes I believe GM should have kept the RWD layout, especially because most Chinese automakers including its current partner SAIC were already used to that. Considering how SAIC took over GM operations in Indonesia, replacing the FWD Chevrolet Spin minivan with some RWD Chinese models, presumably if GM had demanded SAIC to adapt its modern designs from FWD to RWD wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.
I do believe the body panels come from GM, because the car was featured in a GM parts catalog. The Chinese fiberglass cars at that time couldn’t even line up. Besides, GM wouldn’t be able to sue them since Shanghai-GM weren’t even established until late 90’s.