Geely Chengbao was unveiled on the 2005 Shanghai Auto Show and it was inspired by classic sportscars. The name ‘Chengbao’ means castle in Chinese.
Before the show begun Geely released 3 design renderings of the Chengbao. It certainly looked very sporty with a long bonnet, big wheels far on the corners, wide wheel arches, and an extra air duct above the grille. But the most interesting design element of the Geely Chengbao was the roof:
The roof was… round. The cabin was shaped like a dome, allowing a rounded roof, which itself was again dome-shaped. This was accentuated by the blue-white color scheme.
The cabin wasn’t fully made out of glass. It was separated at the back by a wide partition, which continued over the rear deck.
The real thing on the show. Compared to the renderings, it had smaller wheels with shinier alloys. The smaller wheels make a big difference, making the Chengbao look much larger than it really was. The light units, grille and air duct are made from a black rubber-like material. The show car has a big Geely logo on the bonnet, which wasn’t on the renderings.
The Geely logo at the back doubles as the fuel cap. The indicator-brake light units look great. The exhaust pipe is located in the center. At the show, Geely said the adjust the color of the cabin’s glass would automatically adjust according to the intensity of the sun. No sunglasses needed!
Sadly this feature was never demonstrated, as the Chengbao didn’t have an interior to begin with. Geely also said it had “SUV functions”, like the ability to adapt to various types weather and terrain. There was no engine under the bonnet and Geely didn’t release any information about possible production. In the end, not much came of the Chengbao. None of its distinguishing design elements ever made it to any production car and Geely never made a real sports car.