The Geely Mybo was an updated and facelifted version of ‘China’s first sportscar’, the Geely Beauty Leopard. The Mybo was called Liliang in Chinese the Beauty Leopard was called Meirenbao. The Mybo got a redesigned front, new head lights, a new body kit, a new logo new rear lights and s slightly improved interior. Fake air-intake on this black example is after market.

‘Mybo’ was a sort of abbreviation for ‘Meirenbao’ the old Chinese name of the car. Confusingly, in a typical Geely-way, the official English name for the Mybo/Liliang was ‘Leading’, which sounds like Liliang and had a good meaning as well. It doesn’t mean the same though, Liliang means ‘pretty’.

Factory pic of the Mybo-Liliang-Leading. The original Meirenbao arrived in 2003, powered by a far too small 1.3 which was later replaced by a little bit stronger 1.5. The Mybo arrived in 2006 and finally got a decent engine with a 83kw/157nm 1.8, good for a 190km/h top speed. The 1.3 only had 63kw and 110nm, good for 150km/h.

The brand-new Mybo logo. I was a lion with a crown on its head, the Leopard was really gone indeed.

Factory pic shows how fashionable the Mybo was. Price in 2006 was 79.800 yuan. Now!, more confusion because in 2006 yet another Mybo arrived:

This is the Geely China Dragon, Zhongguo Long in Chinese. It debuted as a concept at the 2006 Beijing Auto Show. It had the same Mybo-badges and was listed in late 2007, it was for a while sold alongside the Mybo-Liliang. Exactly the same car, with again a new front and a new body kit. Power came from the old 1.5 or the 1.8. Price started higher at 86.800 yuan. It looked much cooler for sure, and that has a price… The Mybo-Liliang was cancelled in 2008, the Mybo-Zhongguo Long lasted until 2010.

Geely surprised at the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show with this mad ‘Meirenbao II’ concept car, again with Mybo-badges. A leopard and a lion on the same car indeed, such fierce animals, that had to go wrong… It did, the Mybo-Meirembao never made it to the market.

Factory pic from the one and only; the 2003 Geely Meirenbao.

A very lucky day in the underground parking of a shopping mall in my very own street in Beijing, here I found the great Italian race machines parked next to each other; a fine black Maserati Quatroporte and a shining white Ferrari 458 Italia.

Ferrari is doing good business, China was its second market world wide last year after the US. Ferrari expects China to take the first spot in one or at most two years. Ferrari is busy opening more dealers in many second tier cities and will be present at over 30 auto shows in China this year.

Maserati ain’t doing so well, mostly because the Chinese car buyers don’t know what the brand stands for. A Quatroporte is an extremely rare sight, the Coupe is basically nowhere.

Those Italians are fast and look fabulous but by far the best car in that garage tonight was my very own 1998 Beijing-Jeep, powered by the 2.5 four-cylinder. Got it since 2004, drove it all over China and it never missed a beat.

A very nice Hongqi CA 7202E3 Shijixing taxi seen here parked on a street in Beijing. The Hongqi (Red Flag) CA7202 series were based on the Audi 100 that was made by the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture in Changchun, Jilin Province. FAW, First Auto Works, is also the owner of the iconic Hongqi brand.

The Shijixing, aka Century Star in English, was powered by a 2.0 Nissan VG20 V6 that pooped out 92kw, good for a 175km/h top speed. The Century Star was made from 2000 until 2005, over the years many interesting version were born including a full-size limousine and a parade car.

It is always sad to see a great car in sad shape. This abandoned W126 Mercedes-Benz S-class was in a very sorry state. Flat tires, a thick layer of dust, no plates, and the famous star was gone. I found this tired oldie in an alley not far from my home in Beijing.

A remarkable find because Chinese people are now exactly known for throwing things away that are still useful. This strong German automobile surely is. This W126 was made from 1979 until 1991. By that time Benz didn’t officially sell it in China although some were smuggled in via Hongkong and Guangzhou.

Merc dealers therefore can’t support the W126, when something is broken every part has to be shipped from Germany. Maybe this car has some problem with the engine that the owner found too expensive to repair. But here I am speculating indeed…

Electric bike seems in working order, better taken care for than Benz.

Here we have another spectacular Bentley from China, this time a matte-black Bentley Continental Supersports. No wrap this one, it was painted this way on good old Crewe. Earlier on we saw a Benley Continental in chrome, a Continental in pink, a Supersports in gold and another matte-black Continental.

Bentley is doing very well in China. The brand sold more cars in China than in the UK in 2011, the first time to happen so. Best selling car on the Chinese market is by far the Continental, followed by the Flying Spur, the Mulsanne comes in third and far far behind. Bentley sales in China would likely double the moment Bentley finally brings an SUV to the market.

The Continental Supersports is powered by the now famous 6.0 W12, in SS configuration good for 621hp and 800nm, giving the massive machine a 329km/ top speed.

Pics via: Xcar.

Pink is the new bling in China. Here we have a mad Lamborghini Gallardo in pink, seen on a rainy day in the great city of Shanghai. Earlier on we saw a pink Porsche Cayman, a pink Ferrari California, a pink Bentley Continental GT, a pink Mercedes-Benz SLK and a pink MG-TF. This pink-thing indeed, seems to be a trend…

Lamborghini is doing very well in China, the Italians sold more than 300 cars on the Chinese mainland in 2011 and Lamborghini expects China to be its biggest market worldwide this year. I all that leads to more pink Lambo’s on da streets, well, I am happy with it.

Via: Huanqiu.com.

Here we have the China-made Volkswagen Citi golf. It was made in China by the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture and based on the 1993 MK-1 Seat Cordoba which was based on the SEAT Ibiza Mk2 which would spawn the Volkswagen Polo Mk3.

Production in China started in 1995 and lasted until 2001. How many where made is not exactly clear, most sources say at least a 100.000. And strong cars they were, I’ve seen many on the road today in Beijing including the ones on these pics.

The China-made Volkswagen Citi Golf was powered by a 1.4 with 59hp and 107nm, good for a claimed top speed of 130 km/h.

Here we have a 1996 Citi Golf interior. Lotta fake wood in line with fashion atta time. Steering wheel is after market. This particular car was on sale as a second hand in 2009 for 28.000 yuan.

Citi Golf was in Jilin Province, Changchun city, the city where it was made.

A 1995 modified Volkwagen Citi Golf.

Ok, that’s it. See you soon.

Here we have another very special China-only automobile and this is one I almost bought myself; the Chang’an-Suzuki Alto Happy Prince. I was a horty-sporty machine based on the standard Alto made in China by the Chang’an-Suzuki joint venture.

All spoilers and skirts came straight from the factory, including this magic fake air-intake on the bonnet. The Happy Prince was made from 2001 until 2008. I came to live in China in 2003 and sure was looking for a cheap car. I loved the mad Happy Prince, tried it out, but in the end decided it was too small for my long Dutch legs, I bought a second hand 1998 Beijing-Jeep Cherokee instead which I still proudly own today.

The Happy Prince came with a full-blown body kit, special alloys, roof-rails, and brilliant ladder-like-a-things on the back. I never figured out what those where for, or where they were intended for. Didn’t matter anyway, the package looked fast enough!

Let’s have a read, this badges site right before the rear wheel: “New Alto Style. We offer the Ultimate Happy Prince. Let those getting happiness enjoy life. Keep on Moving”. Yeah!

I found this particular little beauty in an alley not very far from my wife’s office. It was definitely still driven, dust on the wheels, had hit the highway making many miles! The Happy Price, like all Alto’s at the time, was powered by a tiny 3-cylinder 0.8 engine. Price in 2008 was 36.800 yuan.

On the very left we see the official-factory code-name: SC7080B.

Factory pic from the Suzuki Alto Happy Prince. Now that I am writing all this, I can’t help thinking: what would have gone differently in my little life, had I indeed bought one? Questions, questions…

Ending this story with a white example, with a sexy girl in top of it.

Here we have an interesting Tianjin-Xiali TJ700 with a Mitsubishi-badge on the grille, badge ain’t that straight anymore. I found this great machine on a cold cold day, winter here, on a street not far from my home in Beijing. Weird front-lights are after-market.

The Tianjin-Xiali TJ700 was a licensed copy of the Daihatsu Charade made by Tianjin Automobile, these days Tianjin-FAW Automobile after FAW, or First Auto Works, bought the majority of shared in the late ’1990′s. Production started in 1986 and continues until today with the current Xiali N3, which by la way will be facelifted soon.

‘The spirit of competition’.  Yeah!

Which track is that? Yez, is is the Hungaroring,in Hungary. That damn little Xiali has been there! Dark shadow is me.

Parked only a few meters further; the real thing.

Here we have a very special Chinese vehicle; the Peugeot 504 four-door pickup truck, a China-only model made by the Guangzhou-Peugeot joint venture that made Peugeots in China from 1985 to 1997. The four-door pickup was developed by the joint venture exclusively for the Chinese car market. The four-door pickup was based on the two-door pickup, which was also made by the joint venture. The two-door pickup in turn was based on the French-Peugeot two-door pickup that was sold in southern Europe and North Africa.

Even after the joint venture ended local production of the two pickups and a 504 wagon continued, with some kinda blessing from Peugeot, all da way until 2000. The 504 was powered by a 2.0 4-cylinder with 79kw and 161nm good for a claimed 160km/h top speed. 0-100 took 14 seconds.

I found this beauty in a very sad and clearly abandoned state somewhere in southern Beijing. I was covered by a thick layer of dust, no air in its tires, and rust all over. It was parked on a small parking lot near a park with a lotta other abandoned cars around, all together a very sad sight.

The fact that this 504 pickup shows up all the way north in Beijing is a miracle by itself. Most pickup didn’t move that far from the production base in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, in the very south of China.

Beijing-plate. I was standing there, in the cold, thinking about finding the owner and restore the damn thing to the proud car it once was. Wife said no.

Guangzhou-Peugeot.

Goodbye, good car.

A better example on a rainy day.

The two-door 504 pickup. This is a 2000-model and it was for sale for 7000 yuan in 2007, the ad still stands, the whereabouts of the car are sadly unknown…

If anyone reading this knows more about the 504 pickup truck made in China, please let me know in the comments.