The Chinese car industry is as chaotic as the traffic itself.
There are more than 100 domestic brands building everything from copycat cars and SUVs to radical electric-powered super machines, most of which were on display at this week's Shanghai motor show.
We've already covered the Top 5 star cars of the show (which you catch up on here), but there were plenty of other contraptions that caught our eye.
Here's a selection of the weird and wonderful from the 2017 Shanghai motor show
The missing Lynk
This unconventional sedan is essentially a Volvo underneath its odd-looking skin. Lynk&Co is the Chinese luxury arm of Geely, the parent company of the Swedish car maker, and its range, including the new 03 concept sedan that debuted at Shanghai, has been designed by the same team that has created Volvo's latest range of SUVs and sedans.
It is based on the new Compact Modular Architecture that will underpin the next-generation of Volvo small cars, the four-door S40 and XC40 compact SUV.
More interestingly, Lynk&Co hopes to change how customers buy and use their vehicles with its own network of shops, rather than traditional dealerships, and a car sharing scheme. It will also push new boundaries in ownership with a lifetime warranty.
Lynk&Co Concept 03 was revealed at the 2017 Shanghai motor show
Honkers from Honkers
With a face that could have been ripped off the front of Aston Martin's super-luxury Lagonda sedan, Hong Kong's Hybrid Kinetic revealed two SUVs at the Shanghai motor show that join its H600 sedan which debuted at the Geneva motor show in March.
The mid-sized K550 and larger K750, along with the H600, have all been designed by famed Italian stylists, Pininfarina, with plans to go into production by 2020.
While they are reasonably interesting to look at, it's what's underneath that is more intriguing as each uses a micro turbine as a range-extender for its battery pack, which it claims provides up to 600kW of power, is ultra-quiet when running and has up to 30 years of maintenance-free use.
Hybrid Kinetic revealed its K550 electric SUV at the 2017 Shanghai motor show
'Ring a Ring
This is the most exciting supercar you've (probably) never heard of. The Chinese start-up NextEV had five of the six Nio EP9 electric machines it plans to build on display at Shanghai - ironically opposite a stand full of towering, fuel-guzzling armoured SUVs.
Its sleek bodywork, which looks reminiscent of a Koenigsegg One:1 hypercar that it coincidentally matches for power output, cloaks a cutting-edge battery pack and electric motor set-up that is claimed to produce 1000kW and has lapped the Nurburgring at 7min 15sec - less than 20 seconds slower than Porsche's 918 Spyder hybrid hypercar.
NextEV's NIO EP9 at the 2017 Shanghai motor show Photo: Andrew Maclean
Looks fast...
In almost every corner of the Shanghai show it seemed there was another Chinese supercar brand spruiking a futuristic machine, and Qiantu was no different, displaying an open-top version of its K50 electric sports car.
With a mix of design cues taken from the likes of the Porsche 918 Spyder, Audi R8, McLaren 570S and BMW i8, the K50 looks striking from some angles and polarising from others.
In any case, underneath its hodge-podge bodywork is a twin-electric motor set-up that won't trouble the big league with a claimed ability to accelerate from 0-100km/h in 4.6 seconds and a top speed of just 200km/h. Looks like a supercar, goes like a hot hatch.
Qiantu K50 roadster at 2017 Shanghai motor show Photo: Andrew Maclean
What's Tesla in Mandarin?
While the American electric car maker is relatively popular in China, it faces a challenger in the Chinese brand Qoros which showcased its rival to the Model S in Shanghai, the closely-named Model K-EV.
More challenging to look at than the sleek US-built four-door, Qoros claims the K-EV is faster, more powerful and quicker to re-charge thanks to its advanced 650kW electric engines,107kWh battery pack, 800w electrical system and lightweight carbon fibre body construction.
Qoros Modek K-EV was revealed at the 2017 Shanghai motor show Photo: Andrew Maclean
It's got a nice personality, I'm sure
Let's just say there were plenty of regular Chinese cars which bore faces that only a mother could love, but the Beijing Auto Works (BAW) BJ20 is a real head turner - in the opposite direction.
The boxy SUV seems as though it is trying to be a serious off-roader, like a Jeep, but it has a front-end which looks as though it's had a head-on with a semi trailer. And trust me, it's no looker on the inside either.
BAW BJ20 at the 2017 Shanghai motor show Photo: Andrew Maclean
It's a family thing
Ugly is obviously in the DNA of BAW vehicles as evidenced by the most extreme version of its bigger brother, the BJ80.
Based on the company's copycat of the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, this armoured vehicle lookalike featured wrinkle paint (like that used by Ferrari on its intake manifolds) over its chunky bodywork, a carbon fibre bonnet and a stylised American army star on its oversized C-pillar. Nice, huh?
BAW BJ80 at the 2017 Shanghai motor show Photo: Andrew Maclean
Goooaalllllll!!!
As far as limited editions are concerned, MG has leveraged the hell out of its sponsorship of English Premier League club Liverpool with special red-and-white versions of its MG6 hatch and GS and ZS SUVs.
More than the colour scheme though, each car gets a massive sticker of the Cormorant from the football club's logo on the bonnet as well as L.F.C lettering and a slogan on the doors that reads "Never Walk Alone". They might be driving alone looking like that..
To kick off (yep, pun intended) the launch of the Liverpool editions, MG had Liverpool's all-time highest goalscorer, Ian Rush, on hand to kick a collection of golden footballs into the crowd while being interviewed by a hyperactive Chinese TV celebrity. Funnier than just that was his interpreter, which totally embellished what he said in English when translating it back to Chinese for the audience. Nothing like a bit of propoganda...
MG revealed at limited edition ZS Liverpool FC at the 2017 Shanghai motor show
Some soothing Tai Chi to finish off with
The show stunt that topped them all, however, was over at the Chery stand where a pair of extremely flexible dancers continuously stretched, contorted and folded themselves inside out all day in a second-story glass box high above the brand's new A800 SUV.
While the girls managed to create a never-ending crowd, most were looking up at them and barely even noticed the car underneath. Perhaps that was the plan all along.
4 Comments
Timbo the Bimbo | 2017-04-23 01:01:44
Quote from the MG section: ...each car gets a massive sticker of the Cormorant from the football club's logo on the bonnet.... NOT A CORMORANT! It is the legendary Liver Bird that appears on the Liverpool city coat of arms, and atop the Royal Liver Building. Wikipedia notes it is presented similarly to a cormorant - but it is NOT a cormorant. Fact checking and research seems to be passe these days...
Wojo Timbo the Bimbo | 2017-04-23 05:30:57
Settle down there champ. Someone give this guy a snickers
Titan | 2017-04-23 02:21:40
I'm not sure that's a fact that's even worth checking...
DJM61 | 2017-04-24 23:23:11
You'll Never Walk Alone emblazoned on the car door? Yep the whole family can walk home when it breaks down. NextEV's NIO EP9 split windscreen ... like 1954 Morris Minor. At least in the 40s and 50s the split was really thin. However the rest of the car is really impressive.