This is the Geely Meirenbao, China’s first sports car. I met this brilliant red example in the summer of 2023 near Zhangjiakou in China’s Hebei Province. The Meirenbao was in good shape, a bit dusty and busted, but otherwise okay, and fitted with the original six-spoke alloy wheels.
The Geely Meirenbao
Geely launched the Meirenbao (美人豹, Beauty Leopard) in 2004. The MyBo badge is super cool, with a crowned leopard. MyBo is an anglicised abbreviation for Meirenbao. Today, the Meirenbao is almost forgotten. So many new ultra-high-tech Chinese electric sports cars have arrived, like the SSC SC-01, the Yangwang U9, and the Hyptec SSR.
The Meirenbao was born when many Chinese car makers developed sporty cars to support their brands. Geely was still a very small car maker in 2004, so the Meirenbao was a big bet. The design was a classic sports car, with a relatively long hood, a cabin with a sloping roof line, and s short rear end, and a big spoiler at the back.
The early Meirenbao cars had a somewhat odd ‘Fashion’ badge on the front doors, in a classy handwritten style.
The Interior
Wow! This is the original interior. I have seen many Meirenbao’s with modified interiors, but in this car, everything is as it left the factory. It has beautiful real-leather red & black seats, red & black trim, a super shiny center stack, and alu-style handbrake and gear lever knobs. The standard equipment included a radio-CD player, a five-speaker audio system, and power windows.
Second hand
Someone offered this car for sale; the sticker on the rear window shows a for-sale sign and a telephone number. It is always tempting; it’ll sell for next-to-nothing, and you’ll have a future classic in your collection. Just don’t expect values to rise very much…
Specs
The Meirenbao was a front-wheel drive car. Geely offered two engines in the 2004 Meirenbao:
- a 1.3 with 86 hp and 110 Nm. Engine code: MR479Q. Top speed: 170 km/h, 0-100 in 12.6 seconds. Price (2004): 99.800 yuan.
- a 1.5 with 94 hp and 128 Nm. Engine code: MR479QA. Top speed: 175 km/h, 0-100 in 12 seconds. Price (2004): 118.800 yuan.
Geely mated both engines to a five-speed manual gearbox.
The Geely badge, in the same beautiful handwriting as the Fashion badge and the Meirenbao badge below.
Initially, the Geely Meirenbao was quite popular. There was genuine pride in China about this first sports car thing. Sadly, that didn’t quite translate into sales, and Geely never made any money on the Meirenbao. But that didn’t really matter. The Meirenbao was about image building, and at that, it worked very well for the Geely brand. In 2006, Geely updated the Meirenbao, and production ended in late 2007.
The Geely Meirenbao, an almost-forgotten landmark in China’s automotive history. We will make sure it will be remembered.