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Beijing Auto Show 2008 LIVE: Dongfeng Hummer for Civilians

250408, Beijing Autoshow. Dongfeng brought the civilian version of the Hummer, Mengshi in Chinese, to the show. Dongfeng started making the Mengshi for the army a couple of years ago.

It is still not exactly clear how Dongfeng got the design. There was a short cooperation in the early 90's with AMC, by that time the owner of the Hummer brand.

The story goes that the Chinese army showed no interest and the AMC-people went back to America but left a few Humvee's behind because they hoped the Chinese would change their mind.

But they didn't and the cars collected dust until the Humvee got famous in the first Gulf war. A Chinese general remembered the Hummers that where still in China and the army decided to reverse-engineer them.

Others say AMC licenced the technology to Dongfeng but AMC lost it's licence in 1999 when GM bought Hummer. Dongfeng says they worked for more than 4 years on their Mengshi, which means 'Very Brave Soldier' (and not Crazy Soldier as some websites say), and thus that the design is their own.

Whatever the story is, one thing is sure: the enigines are from Cummins and they are produced in China under a joint venture agreement. There is no GM engine in the Mengshi.

The civilian version will cost around 85.000$.