New bodies for Datsun 240 Z and Toyota Corolla produced at Juncheng
While browsing YouTube recently, I came across a Hagerty video by Larry Chen. He visited Juncheng Vehicle Co, where apparently completely new bodies for the Datsun 240 Z, the Toyota Corolla GT (AE86) and the Ford Bronco are being produced. Bodies for the Land Rover are also produced at this large company in China, and soon the company plans to venture into the Porsche 964 and the 300 SL from Mercedes-Benz.
The industrial company is not lacking in experience, as it has also been producing spare parts for more modern cars for some time. Juncheng Vehicle Co began to see a business opportunity when it received more and more requests for certain parts for classic cars. Thousands of parts are repressed, reproduced and finally assembled into the bodies of classic cars.
A 240-Z body is said to cost around USD 8000, which would be very attractive. However, not everything is one hundred percent accurate, for example if you want to mix existing parts with the new ones.
The manufacturing process is impressive and it is worth watching this video (in English). It is also impressive that the Chinese did not initially focus on super-expensive classics, but on cars of which there are still quite a few and which hardly ever change hands for more than five-figure sums. However, a Ford Bronco with bodywork by Juncheng Vehicle Co was apparently auctioned for over USD 400,000.
Larry Chen's thoughts on the subject of ethics are also interesting ...
