About China's Coolest Cars
A beautiful Geely Meirenbao sporty car in central Beijing in the late summer of 2012. At the time, the Meirenbao was still a common sight in the Chinese capital. It was painted bright red and fitted with big ‘and shiny after-market alloy wheels.
Continue reading “Geely Meirenbao With Big Shiny Wheels In China”
Here we have a Geely Icon, as seen parked on the road in the summer of 2023 in Beijing, China. The license plates are of Hebei, the province that surrounds the capital. The Geely Icon is a rather special car, an oddball, in the sense that it doesn’t look like any other Geely.
Continue reading “Geely Icon Is A Hip And Somewhat Oddball Chinese Crossover”
The Geely Boyue L is a typical Chinese mid-size SUV. I met it on a summer’s day in Beijing. It seemed brand new, painted in a color called Orion Green, and fitted with aero wheels. Geely is selling many mid-size SUVs and crossovers, with overlap in price and size.
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This is a Geely Galaxy L7, a new Chinese plug-in hybrid SUV. It looks like an EV, with a seemingly closed grille. But the engine gets air via the slats in the lower bumper. The L7 was brand new, still without license plates. On the left side, you can see a temporary license plate behind the windshield. These are common on newly purchased cars when the owner waits for the real plates to arrive.
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A Lynk & C0 03 Pro, as seen in Beijing in 2018. The 03 is a sporty compact sedan with an interesting design. The one I met was painted black with darkened windows and dark gray alloy wheels. The license plates are from Henan province.
Continue reading “Lynk & Co 03 Pro Is A Sporty Chinese Compact Sedan”
A Geely Merrie Uliou sedan, seen parked beside the road in central Beijing in 2004. The good Geely looked great in silver with the factory standard wheels. It seemed brand new and it probably was, as the Uliou sedan was made from 2003 until 2006.
Continue reading “Geely Merrie Uliou MR7130X1 Is A Pretty Silver Sedan In China”
A beautiful black Geely Meirenbao sports car, seen in Beijing in 2011. The great Meirenbao was in a great shape, looking almost as new, painted in black with the original alloy wheels. The car was fitted with a racy after-market body kit and a fake air intake on the bonnet.
Back in 2004 Geely was still a new and tiny Chinese automaker. They basically had one platform and used that to develop a rather amazing series of different cars. On the first photo a pristine Geely Haoqing hatchback.
The Haoqing, also known as HQ, was based on the Tianjin Xiali, which in turn was based on the Daihatsu Charade. The Geely Haoqing debuted in 1998 and was made until 2006. Power came from a 53 hp 0.9 liter three-cylinder petrol engine, made in China but originally developed by Daihatsu.
Back in 2004 I visited my first Beijing Auto Show. Then the show was still held at the China International Exhibition Center in the center of the city, so I could go by bicycle, a 15-minute ride from my home. In 2004 Geely was just starting to make its mark in China. They had a small booth inside the exhibition hall and a much larger booth outside, where I spend quite some time checking out all the new cars!
A beige brown Shanghai Maple Haiyu sedan, seen in central Beijing in 2015. The old Maple was a bit dirty and dusty but otherwise in a reasonable shape, with the original wheels and with old Tianjin license plates.
The Shanghai Maple brand has a somewhat confusing history. It began in 2000 when the Shanghai motorcycle maker JM Star moved into car making.
Continue reading “Shanghai Maple Haiyu Was A Cheap Chinese Sedan With Some Citroen Genes”
