Just as I had promised although a little late, I have finally resolved to blog up about the Top 10 Radical Malaysian Car Designs that I personally think stands out in the Malaysian automotive scene. Some are rather silly while the others are significantly different in their own unique way and as I have listed 10 Malaysian cars, they make a major significant impact in how Malaysians conceive and perceive it.
Starting with the first car at Number 10 :- The Proton Saga FL
Proton had taken a rather radical step to giving the Saga a facelift that might not suit to everyone's taste like the previous front facia and its design looks pretty outlandish.
At number 9 :- The Proton Tiara
While the Proton Tiara was never a success to Proton and one of its failed products, It's pretty much an oddball to Proton's line during its time . Since it's a rebadged Citroen AX, they had done well to style it according to Malaysian tastes.
For Number 8 :- The Proton Satria GTI
While this car isn't really a strange looking car as it seems, but it's radical for its well design sporty look for its time in 98' and still looks great till today... it's also radical in a way for being the best car made by Proton in terms of performance.
Number 7 :- The Proton Satria Neo
The next incarnation of the Satria was a stunning design that replaced the rather bland previous Satria that was based on the Mirage-Colt. The design still looks great just as it is being rallied in the S2000 series and APRC. Although the interior was pretty much a disappointment in terms of quality...
Number 6 :- Perodua Kancil
I am particularly referring to the last generation of its facelift around the 2000's, because it is quite an achievement to re-do such a big area of the original Kancil based Daihatsu Mira. This facelift was pretty much a good one that disguised its older predecessor..
At number 5 :- The Proton Waja
While judging which car would be the first, I had the Waja in mind to be 2nd because, the Waja was our first in house design car that was a success to breaking off from Mitsu rebadges.. Although it was also the car to suffer from bad build quality..
Number 4 :- The Proton Savvy
Since the Proton Tiara failed, Proton decided to enter in the supermini territory. But of course they weren't good in making small cars. To revive the failed Tiara, they came up with the Savvy. If you think the names weird, the Design was pretty much very radical for its time aswell. Whether it's about the interior or the exterior, it was pretty quirky to compete with the european rivals. Such as the step up windows or the bonnet that is regarded as a toilet seat..
Number 3 :- The Proton Juara
Were getting closer to Number 1 , but for number 3 it's the Proton Juara. Another car that was a flop by Proton for it's radical and ridiculous look, no one really bought it with only a very limited number that was sold. It's design is understandable since it's a rebadge of the Mitsubishi Town Box and would have deffinately be better off as a Japanese kei-van.
Number 2 :- Proton Arena/Jumbuck
Why is this radical? It has to be radical! Who in the right mind, during the 2000's would ever think of creating a utility vehicle/ Ute/ pick up truck especially Proton!? It would have been a pretty risky move for Proton to introduce such a variant. And while nobody ever thought about taking a Proton Wira base derived from the 90's Lancer to turn it into a pick up truck, it is deffinately a radical turn.
Number 1 ! :- Proton Gen-2
I'm pretty sure not all of you would agree with me on this. But after taking sometime to think about it, I had concluded on the Gen-2 to be the most radical Malaysian Design. While Proton cars were all pretty bland and safe. Right after the Proton Waja had been launched, came the Proton Gen-2 which was pretty outstanding to its design. But because of its huge leap in design, it's quality was one of the worse during its time for Proton, especially its interior and its ergonomics were poor. Come to think of it, seriously! what car manufacturer had offered Turquoise/Aqua blue for their car that time!? Now that's seriously radical.
To see what I really mean, take yourself back to 2003 and imagine you were watching this ad..
Even after watching this today, it still reminds me of how radical it is and I'm still blown away today lol..
Next post i'll be posting about the current Project P.D.C
