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!
This is a Geely Baofeng GT Sport, a sporty-crossy variant of the Geely Haoqing hatchback. The car came with a lot of extra body work, all factory standard: bull-bars up front and at the back, a roof rack, sporty wheels, special head lights and best of all: two large wings up and down the rear window.
This one also has RV Tourer stickers on the doors. Power came from a China-made Toyota 1.3 liter 4-cylinder which pooped out 86hp. Transmission was a 5-speed manual. The Baofeng GT was made from 2004 until 2008. Price in 2004 was just 45.999 yuan.
This is Geely’s first real race car. It was based on a Formula Campus chassis and fitted with a Geely MR479Q engine. This particular car was a demonstrator, it ran on media days and such, but never competed.
Later on Geely would become quite big in single-seat motorsport, with one-make classes like Formula Geely China, Asian Geely Formula International, and the China Formula 4.
This red beauty is a Shanghai Maple JmStar Meilu SXE7130. The Shanghai Maple brand began in 2000 when Shanghai motorcycle maker JM Star moved into car making. JM Star called their car the Meilu, or pretty deer. It was available in sedan and hatchback form.In 2003 Geely bought the company and renamed it Shanghai Maple Automotive (SMA).
The car we have here was likely produced just after Geely stepped in. It has the Shanghai Maple badges and the JM Star badges. Later on, the JM Star badges were replaces by Geely badging. Power came from a 1.3 liter four-cylinder petrol engine with 86 hp. The engine was mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. Price in 2003 started at a very cheap 63.900 yuan.
A rally version of the Meilu, and it had seen action, note the damage on the side! That’s how rally cars should look like. The company competed in the China Rally Championship, and several local rallies, from 2004 until 2007. In 2005, they even fielded a female-only team!
This blue baby is a Geely Pride Wagon, a cool compact wagon/5-door hatchback again based on the Haoqing hatchback. The wagon arrived in 2002. Geely also made a more dressed up variant of the wagon, called the Pride SRV.
On the roof a Geely-branded electric bicycle. A prototype, likely. Before Geely became a car maker they were a scooter maker, but as far as I know they never mass produced any electric scooters or bikes.
HQ303S was the factory designation. In the early 2000’s Chinese automakers still had these designations in full lettering on their cars, but it is rare to see them on show plates.
The Pride Wagon was powered by a 1.3 liter four-cylinder petrol engine with 86hp and 63 Nm. The engine was mated to a five-speed manual transmission. Top speed was 145 km/h. Price in 2004 started around 35.000 yuan, and that was cheap even for the day.
All very nice cars but the star of the booth was of course the Geely Meirenbao, the Beauty Leopard, dubbed as China’s first sports car. The Meirenbao debuted in 2003 and was made until 2007. It was an absolutely fascinating project at the time; an unknown car company that pops out a sporty coupe! And it didn’t look bad at all. The show car had racy decals and large alloy wheels.
The Meirenbao came with questionable English-language logos, like “Fashion”. But the handwriting was nice.
‘Chromed’ fuel cap, wing, and quad light units were factory standard.
In the beginning the only engine option was a 1.3 with 86 hp and 110 Nm, good for a 170 km/h top speed and a 0-100 in 12.6 seconds. Later on, Geely added a 94 hp 1.5 to the lineup. Price for the 1.3 started at 99.900 yuan in 2004. I wish I’d bought one…
Since 2004 the Geely brand has grown massively and its cars are much better now, technically and design wise, but some of the craziness of the early days is sadly gone, and will never return.
More on the early Chinese auto shows soon!