dirtyrottenfred

Beijing 2010: Geely Gleagle GS

The first time we saw something that could roughly be equated to a sport coupe from Geely was a few years ago at the Detroit Auto Show. That red car had some enormous panel gaps and dubious styling. My, how times change. The star of Geely's new midrange Gleagle brand (we're pretty sure it doesn't come across as oddly in Chinese as it does in English) was the GS coupe.

Similar in size to Scion Tc, the GS is powered by a 1.3-liter turbocharged inline four producing 127 horsepower. It can be paired with either a six-speed manual gearbox or a seven-speed dual clutch unit. If any Chinese automaker is going to make it to the U.S., Geely seems the most likely and its purchase of Volvo could even give it access to a sales network.

Beijing 2010: First Auto Works Red Flag limo is fit for government work

Beijing-based First Auto Works has long been the provider of the official transportation for the hierarchy of the People's Republic of China. Back in the 1950s, FAW started off building a localized version of the standard Soviet parade car, and over the past half century, they have evolved. FAW has also built licensed stretched sedans based on Audi and Lincoln vehicles.

Here at the Beijing Motor Show, FAW is showing off a new limo that is a modern interpretation those original models from the 1950s, but with a greenhouse and door array that looks more like a contemporary Rolls-Royce Phantom. We couldn't find any press materials written in English, but we have reason to believe that this machine is powered by a V12 engine that looks suspiciously like the one from the BMW 7 Series V12 of the late-1980s.