About BAW
Beijing Automobile Works (BAW) is a Chinese car maker. When the Luba launched, BAW was a Beijing Auto Industry Corporation (BAIC) subsidiary. However, in 2020, BAW became an independent company based in Qingdao, Shandong Province.
A Toyota or not a Toyota?
It is complicated. The BAW Luba is based on the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (J90). In 2003, Toyota stopped the production of the J90 in Japan and sold the production line + the platform to BAW. At the time, Toyota sold platforms and engines to many Chinese automakers.
At the same time, other Chinese automakers produced illegal clones of the Land Cruiser Prado. BAW’s deal was real, it bought the platform officially from Toyota. Initially, BAW used an imported Toyota engine to power the Luba. However, later on, when Toyota stopped producing this engine, BAW replaced it with various locally-made Chinese engines.
The design is a bit of a murky thing. Toyota didn’t sell the copyrights for the design of the Land Cruiser Prado, but Toyota also didn’t try to stop BAW and others from using its design. Toyota was probably happy with the money rolling in from China, and simply didn’t care too much about it.
Advertisement advertising the imported Toyota 5VZ engine of the Luba. It was a 3.4-liter unit with 136 kW and 294 Nm. The Luba’s with this motor had cool V6 3400 stickers on the rear fenders.
The BAW Luba
BAW produced the Luba from 2003 until 2012. A long production run! The Luba looked almost exactly like a J90 Land Cruiser Prado. Naturally, many Chinese owners replaced the BAW badges with faux Toyota badges, which were sold by any car repair shop for a few yuan a piece. Even the design of the 3-spoke alloy wheels was Toyota’s!
The car in the photos is a late model, produced from 2010 to 2012. Power came from a G4BA 2.7-liter four-cylinder petrol engine produced by Shenyang Xinguang Huaxiang Automobile Engine Manufacturing (XG Engine).
The output was 150 hp and 235 Nm. BAW mated the motor to a 5-speed manual. RWD was standard, AWD optional. The top speed was 150 km/h, and it had a big 90-liter fuel tank.
Interior
The interior shows that this is a late car, with a screen on the center stack. Drivers could play MP4 and DVD video. It even had a USB port, which was quite rare in China-made cars at the time. It has a black leather interior, protected by fancy seat covers. A lucky charm hangs from the rear view mirror.
The Luba was a large and spacious car with big windows. A yellow helmet lies on the bench. Size of the Luba: 4795/1835/1925, 2675. In 2012, the Luba 2.7 model cost 172.800 yuan, which was pretty good deal.
The owner added a running board at the back, under the bumper. The BAW Luba was a popular car. BAW also made many variants for the government and the armed forces. Up until 2018 or so, the Luba was still a regular sight in Beijing. Nowadays, the strict emission regulations have banned the Luba from Beijing to the outer provinces.
The Chinese name of the Luba is 陆霸, Lùbà. The best translation is Land Tyrant, and that is a brilliant name for a cool Chinese SUV with some Japanese genes.
