By in Oddities & Curiosities —

The Nushen JB6500: China's Curious Copy of a Chevy Minivan with a Chrysler Heart

In the annals of automotive oddities, the Nushen JB6500 stands out. A near-perfect visual replica of Chevrolet's 'dustbuster' minivan from the late 90s, its similarities were only skin deep. Underneath, it was a rear-wheel-drive truck powered by a rival Chrysler engine.

In the late 1980s, General Motors took a bold leap into the future with its U-body minivans: the Chevrolet Lumina APV, Pontiac Trans Sport, and Oldsmobile Silhouette. With their dramatically sloped windshields and composite plastic bodies, they earned the affectionate, and sometimes derisive, nickname “dustbuster” vans. They were front-wheel drive, unibody, and quintessentially American in their design. A decade later and half a world away, this futuristic shape reappeared, but with a very different soul.

The Sincerest Form of Flattery?

Enter the Nushen JB6500, a vehicle produced from 1998 to 2001 by the Guizhou Aerospace Industry Corporation, a company more accustomed to manufacturing military hardware than family haulers. At first glance, the Nushen is a dead ringer for the Chevy Lumina APV. The proportions, the sharp angles, the expansive glass—it's all there. This was a common practice in the burgeoning Chinese auto market of the era, where local manufacturers would often borrow heavily from successful foreign designs to quickly bring a product to market. The Nushen, however, was far more than a simple clone.

Under the Skin: A Frankenstein's Monster

While the exterior was a faithful homage, the engineering underneath was a completely different story. GM's original was a sophisticated (for the time) front-wheel-drive unibody vehicle, offering a car-like ride. The Nushen JB6500 was its polar opposite. Engineers at Guizhou Aerospace grafted the fiberglass Lumina-esque body onto a rugged, body-on-frame chassis from a FAW-CA1021U pickup truck. This fundamental change meant the Nushen was rear-wheel drive, with the agricultural underpinnings of a work vehicle, not a comfortable suburban minivan. The differences created a vehicle that looked modern but was mechanically rudimentary.

An Engine from the 'Enemy'

The most bizarre twist in the Nushen's story lies under its short hood. Instead of a GM V6, the JB6500 was powered by an engine from one of GM’s fiercest rivals: Chrysler. Specifically, it used the 2.4-liter Chrysler EDZ four-cylinder engine, a powerplant found in vehicles like the Dodge Caravan and PT Cruiser. The presence of a Chrysler engine in a Chevrolet clone is a perfect example of the pragmatic, mix-and-match engineering that defined this period of Chinese automotive history. Thanks to joint ventures like Beijing Jeep, Chrysler powertrains were available on the local market, and Guizhou Aerospace simply used the components that were accessible.

As automotive journalist Jason Torchinsky noted when reflecting on the vehicle's peculiar makeup:

This thing is a Frankenstein, but a weirdly charming and understandable one. It’s a fascinating product of a specific time and place, when the desire for a modern-looking car was met with the reality of what components were actually available to a company that normally built missiles.

Legacy of a Quirky Clone

The Nushen JB6500 was never a high-volume seller and faded into obscurity after its short production run. Today, it remains a cult classic and a fascinating footnote in automotive history. It represents a specific moment when China's auto industry was finding its feet, creating strange and wonderful hybrids born of ambition and necessity. It’s a reminder that sometimes, the most interesting stories aren't about the original, but about the strange and unexpected copies they inspire.

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