Geely will be introducing it’s Geely BL sports car into the European market soon, with a targetted launch date set sometime in 2008. It will be banking on low cost as one of the attraction points – anyone looking for a cheap sporty ride to buy the car but does not mind the fact that it only comes with either a 1.3 litre or a 1.5 litre engine. Transmission options are a 5-speed manual and a slushbox likely to be a 4-speed with overdrive. The car has discs at the front and drums at the rear, and the 1.3 and 1.5 litre 16-valve engines make 84 horsepower and 92 horsepower respectively, both at 6,000rpm. Torque output is 110Nm at 5,200rpm for the 1.3 and 128Nm at a lower 3,400rpm for the 1.5 litre. These engines push a 980kg car. Mostly all show and no go, but it doesn’t look terribly underpowered. Notice the classic Chinese design element – tiny wheels which barely fill up the wheel arches.
Geely has caused some amusement with it’s Geely Merie, a sedan that mimics the Mercedes Benz C-class. They are China’s largest privately-owned car manufacturer. The Geely Beauty Leopard (yes, that’s what BL means) sells for as low as US$7,500 (RM27,600) in China. The car will probably be rechristened for the European market as a car called something that sounds that silly probably will be a sales turnoff. This car falls into the tiny spoarts car segment, and I’m reminded of the old school Mazda Eunos and Toyota Sera. No confirmed prices yet, but we’ll know sometime closer to 2008.
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Hmm…good effort to bring some cheap fun sporty-ish car to the masses but do we really need it?
Looks like one of those cottage industry kit cars from the UK. But from experience, China-made cars always have tonka toy built quality and I wouldn't want to drive anything like it.
I mean, look at the castor position of the wheels. Scary innit?
alamal…the wheel is not proportionate…damn…side view…okla this car…seems influence of hyundai coupe…
The source says the car been on sales in Egypt, Syria, Cuba and Malaysia since 2003…!!!! betul ke… Malaysia since 2003. tak pernah nampak oso.
this car look a lot like the Hyundai Coupe. i'll pass this one.
Geely Beauty Leopard?!! WTF?!! Just look at it! Dude, I'd rather have the 1st-generation Proton Saga! European market? In your dreams! Well, it might be popular amongst OAPs (old-age pensioners)…
Mmmm, I am very confident with out saga now…
typo: out = our*
Rasanya ramai orang yang "geli" bila tengok kereta "Geely" ni…
My dear Lord, wtf is that thing??!!!
this car will get dropped from 8 stories high by that famous british auto journalist. :P
KY said,
July 27, 2006 @ 9:15 am
this car will get dropped from 8 stories high by that famous british auto journalist. :P
——————————————————————-
Were you referring to Jezza (Jeremy Clarkson)? I bet he wouldn't even look at this "thing" they call a car…hehehe… :P I must say, though, that the most enjoyable thing to do with this "car" would be dropping it off a cliff. Or roast it with a jet engine. Or perhaps even more interesting is to…er…I don't know…any suggestion? Yes, it is a fun car if you think of it…
Hmmm…As Whopper have yet to see the BL from all angles and view the interior design as well, difficult to comment on this one. Therefore Whopper no comment
hey, at least they coming with lots of new models, not like P1, duh
got nice simple interior, with leather seat.
there are dedicated website to this model, surf here
http://www.mybo.cn/show/show.htm
wikipedia says that the engine is souced out from toyota, read here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geely_BL
well, Jezza (??) has knocked the Kelisa to pieces with the hanging and dynamite bombing..i dont see why he can't do the same with this Geely. its rubbish. take it off my sighT!
Stewpid,
Whopper says thanks for the dedicated website of the Geely BL.
Hmmm…after looking at the interior pics of the Geely GL, Whopper can confirm that it looks down right bland and uninspiring. But what can one expect from a car design by China. Therefore, Whopper DONT LIKE the Geely BL :-(
and more…
http://www.auto-motor-sport.de/d/91597/d_ams_foto…
Supra rear lights!!!!!!! well, at least they can make some coupes like tat… I think its a good start for chinese automakers. Give them some time then they'll improve.. nobody can fly as soon as they're born right?
I STRONGLY against calling this thing as sport car, this is an insult on those real sport cars.
I think competition is good for everyone. At the moment, big car manufacturers won't care too much about Geely, but give it 3-5 years and they will be sweating. America and Europe probably won't have to worry too much, since Geely will just barely make their saftey tests … but Asia and the rest of the world will probably eat it up.
It all comes down to… money.
need to swap in an Evo or Supra engine inside before this little ugly duckly can called 'sport car'…
well…84 or 92 horse, our old saga faster than this, rite?
haha if you lookat the side pic long enough you will notice the tyres move from left to right…haha hope that doesnt happen while driving it.
stewpid…i would rather have proton sell the first generation saga as brand new than have a car company that produces something like this la…lol
I think competition is good. Other big car manufacturers won't have to worry too much about Geely right now, but in 3-5 years they will be sweating.
Geely is offering something others cannot, affordability.
ya now all of us will sell off our evos and m3's and buying one of theses!
Can't wait for Jezza to get his hands on this piece of garbage. That would be rather entertaining ;)
People who refer to themselves in the third person annoy me to no end.
Anyway Chinese cars suck terribly now, but I don't think it's too far-fetched to imagine that they'll surpass proton in 5-10 years, and be on par with the Japs in 15-20 years. Chinese car companies have a lot of similarities with Proton, but one big difference – they have a HUGE home market whereas Proton doesn't.
First of all, I am not refering myself as Jezza. Jezza is a nickname for Jeremy Clarkson. Secondly, I am not biased towards Chinese cars. I am merely making a cruude comment regarding the rationality of the car.
Just look at those wheels, how do you suppose that car with that mass for a body is supposed to take corners?
Yes, I do know that the Chinese automotive industry has a further reach compared to Malaysian automotive companies and yes I do know that they might probably surpass us in 5-10 years time given with the proper growth and development.
Do not take me for a fool.
Erm I wasn't talking about you … don't know what you're getting so worked up over.
And secondly, I AGREED with you that Chinese cars are crap. The rest of that was just a general comment with regards to what I think the future will be like, not directed to anybody in particular.
Looks like a ripped off Hyundai Coupe.
Seen as though it's ugly to start with, not a good car to copy..
everyone….
isnt that one is MADE IN CHINA?
beauty ?
how could dey call dis car beauty ?
r dey blind ?
i think dey r .
Geely Beauty Leopard. ROFL … 'Beauty' … ooh thats a good one! Bloody ugly car with Kancil wheels trying to pass off as a sports car.
As Jeremy once said, "there's only cheap and dreadful cars". He applied it to the Savvy, same case here with this beauty I suppose.
At least it looks like it has been a genuinely derived coupe not like our wira, satria, arena, putra etc. macam macam ada, sama muka~
actually we can kinda do a kewl magic trick. with some sleight of hand we can fool the audiences by swapping these cars around with identical fronts and they will be astonished that the rear end can be transformed with a blink of an eye. that would make david copperfield look like a 2 year old.
No offense to the designer of this car, but what an ugly look, OH MY GOD…. I'd rather drive a Datsun 120Y.
Eww….The Mainland Chinese people really has different taste than us right here…….Weird…
20 years exterior…
An odd one – a car with a Ford Puma shape, mixed with a Supra back and the front of a Starlet…
I wonder what will happen if those trio from Top Gear know about this…the car is not suitable for children 3 years old and above..
jeremy clackson will say "its a Rubbish"…..
The car is ugly both inside and outside, a design feat indeed. Geely could improve the outlook of the car by lowering it and fitting larger rims; it'd greatly improve the car's outer profile, but the car will still be lame with an engine that only churns out 92hp, duh, like, most modern family sedans can beat that number, so it's hard to take it's sportscar image seriously. Although China's car are still laughing stock now, I believe things will change in 5 years time, we'll see who is laughing then.
The shiny red and silver interior reminds me of something…MTV Pimp My Ride…though in this case it's been badly pimped…and I mean BADLY…heheh… :P Yes, it does look very much like a toy car at the moment. But as some of us have said, give the Chinese another 4 or 5 years and they might come up with something reasonably impressive. And if only they'd chosen another name. Is there anyone here who thinks "Geely" sounds attractive? I really can't imagine someone saying, "Hey man! Guess what? I'm driving the hot new Geely!"
I think Geely put the smiliar wheels to their mercedez wannabe, those wheels is going to be their icon? Who knows haha.
Look at the speed they introducing new cars. And look at our speed… the rabbit didnt win the race, but the tortise did.
20XXAC
Initial D XXX
RX7 driver
"WTF a car is following me tight, i shall let it disappear in the next 2 corners"
*some drifting act, burning tires*
"Nani! IMPOSSIBLE!" the mysterious car stick to the curving road with demonic speed, even thou RX7 driver learnt the longkang tactic also cannot beat that speed. And finally smoked the RX7 driver.
*the RX7 stop by the roadside, driver came out chocking fresh air, 5 minutes later his friends caught up with him*
"Did you see that?" "What the hell is that?" "OMG"
"I've lose, and completely beaten up" RX7 driver said "Geely BT GTR SEi TTDi VVTi is really a horrible demon. I shall challenge him again."
Fast n Furious 9: China Great Drag
When the transplanted Ford Mustang and a heavily modded GRT doing drag race, Vroooom, blue flames blasted out from their eksos pipe and they rocketed each other towards the end, half way thru, a car catch up from far behind and smoke them… the drivers can only barely see the Supra back…
"I swear that is not a Supra, Supra do not have such power, no matter what they put under the hood." and the black guy beside say "need a dictionary? This is drag"
…
10 years later r the above still jokes?
To be fair to the car's designers, over there in China, they may not have nice roads (i said 'may'. please correct if i'm wrong) so the tiny wheels and acres of space in the tyre well could possibly be a necessity, allowing the car to ride well over ruts and pot holes with ease. Also, the purpose of the car's designers could have been to provide for more comfort instead of cornering prowess as it may not be a criteria for their drivers anyway. perhaps they only want a car that just looks good (in their view point anyway) and rides comfortably over bad roads. then there is the cost factor. to engineer a good handling car that is also comfortable costs more. and i suppose, the market there is not ready to pay top dollar for it yet. yes, we can suggest they buy a 4wd. but then, it probably does not come in such a 'sporty' shape.
lowprofile, china's cities have fine roads… small places I dunno la… I think just their designer's concept a bit strange? but at least they're doing on their own n not depending on other designers? some manufaturers have to hire outside overseas designers to help them deisgn then they get credit for their good design… but why Geely design it their own but not get credit for their effort? Hmmm… no matter how awful it looks like, I think they should be given applause for doing it themselves… at least give it a try without other ppl's help, right guys?
jtshin, maybe you're right as i hv not been there before. still i agree with you that those guys should be commended for at least trying to do something. well, the result of their effort is of course debatable but hey, the japanese and koreans were there before too and look at them now. maybe their market is still in infancy stage where customers don't really know how to demand for big wheels yet. just like us in the 70's where most of the cars here are with 12in and some with 13in wheels.
by the way, not many of us can afford the 'real sports cars' out there. so with decent wheels, the geely thing may be a good starting point for many. it all depends on what consumers want. maybe over here we're used to japanese products and demand a certain bit more when it comes to reliability and quality but where they intend to sell it, or even here, there may (again, i said may) be a market for such a small sports coupe.
in spirit, its definitely no sports car. its closer to the toyota paseo the hyunday scoupe or the mazda mx3 (i think, can't really remember those models) where looks sell more rather than performance. again, looks are subjectivelah.
There are still plenty of great choices out there, eg. Toyota Supra, Toyota Celica, Nissan Skyline, Nissan Silvia, Nissan 350Z, Mazda RX7, Mazda RX8, Hyundai Coupe, Smart Roadster, MercedesBenz SLK350, BMW Z4, BMW M3, BMW M6, BMW 645Ci, Honda S2000, Honda NSX, Honda Prelude, Mitsubishi FTO, Mitsubishi GTO, Misubishi Eclipse, Lotus Elise, Lotus Exige, Ferrari 360 Spyder, Ferrari F430, Porsche 911 Turbo, Porsche Cayman S, Lamborghini Gallardo and many many more…… (including our very own Proton Putra)
This car reminds me of the 80's jap anime. go Speed Racer, go Speed Racer, go Speed Racer go…..
mitlanevo,
those cars you mentioned are nice but out of reach of most malaysians. yes they are great choices… if you have the money to buy one, but most wage earners don't. lets be a bit more practical. no way can you put a putra in the same room with a Honda s2000 and likewise, no way can you put an s 2000 in the same room with a 911. also, you definitely cannot put a 911 with a veyron. there is just too much of a class divide. the purpose of that china made sports car is definitely not to challenge those makes. remember, its a practical, cheap sporty car (not sports car) for the masses. maybe a little lower in standard compared to even the putra.
OMFG……… dats what happens when you have no originality and you dowan to be framed a copycat….. OMFG OMFG….. its lagi-out-of-proportion than a City…..
How safe is this car????It looks like matchbox especially the wheels and the rims…..i can't believe its a car…..Go for our Myvi or kenari look better than this piece of junk.
any more info about this jezza???