One of the most desirable cars is the Rolls-Royce. It is not strange that over the years many copies, look-a-likes, or Rolls-Royce-inspired cars, appeared in China.
At the Shanghai Show of 2009, Geely introduced a whole range of concept cars, small and big. They were designed by Nova Design of Taiwan.
One remarkable concept was the Geely GE, a ‘Rolls-Royce inspired’ 5.29m long limousine with a wheelbase of 3.10m.
I spoke with the designer who gave me his business card. It is a Korean named mr. Jung Hea Il, working for the Daejin Corporation.
This designer also drew the Geely GT, a wonderful sports coupé concept.
Back to the Geely GE. GE meant Geely Excellence.
According to the information, the GE was powered by a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine, good for 278hp/ 340Nm, seven-speed DCT automatic gearbox. I don’t know if the concept already had this engine, or that the space under the bonnet was empty.
The most interesting detail was the rear seat: an enormous big chair, worthy of a president or a capo boss.
The rear passenger enjoyed many things: a refrigerator, a bar, a cigarette box and a control panel for the audio and the air conditioning.
On the bonnet, there was instead of the Spirit of Ecstasy, the famous lady on the bonnet of the Rolls-Royce, a phoenix.
The Geely GE was smaller than the Rolls Royce Phantom. It had a ‘starry sky roof’, that means that through the roof a lot of stars were visible. Rolls-Royce had the same.
Geely GE 2009.
You can understand that the reactions to the concept were not always positive, especially in China. And for the next year, the Geely GE had a totally different front end. The Rolls was gone…
The Emgrand GE had a Delta 4G20 engine, 2.4-litre PHEV power train with AWD, 203kW/ 735Nm. Sizes: LxWxH 5435mm/ 1885mm/ 1585mm, wheelbase 3150.
Text from Geely: “full size luxury flagship, a perfect ride for elite.”
Someone talking about constructing a socialist society??
Both the Geely GE of 2009 and the Emgrand GE of 2010 were never produced.
Our faithful readers will remember the other Chinese Rolls-Royce, the SOAR. This car was really produced, in quite a lot of units.
Tycho has written a lot about these fake Rolls. An important article in China Car History of 2021/08/23, but also eight!! articles in Car News China: 2012/01/27, 2012/02/09, 2012/08/04, 2013/01/29, 2013/08/08, 2015/02/28, 2015/09/18, 2015/11/27. Check here and here.