Just got a call for an interview for a sales rep position at a Proton dealership today, so the timing of this video is kinda perfect. I currently drive the Saga vvt, but been seing a few Proton Putras here and there lately, it's almost like the universe is trying to tell me something
Awesome!!! All the best with that Ezra, remember you're selling a part of Malaysia with every car, be proud of that!! Wishing you all the best in this venture. And yes, buy a Putra....manual preferred, haha!!😉👍🏾🙏🏽
@@EzraNazrain most welcome!! My hope is that this video makes more people proud to own a Proton 🙏🏽😊 If the showroom u might be working at has a big tv, u have my wholehearted permission to play this video on a loop, hopefully it spurs some additional sales for you too 😉😉😉🙏🏽👍🏾
Dear Chris, Thank you for the trip thru memory lane. I myself am a proud owner of a 2008 Persona 1.6HL, and used to drive the 1997 Wira 1.3 Aeroback and the 2002 Waja 1.6MT. Protons for all it's bad image being in people's mindset, I am still proud to see these cars being part of our country's history and also my childhood.
Most welcome Eugene!! So glad you enjoyed this video, yes, there's still hope for our 1st national carmaker, things are def getting better!! Thanks for watching and the feedback!!🙏🏽😃👍🏾
I am a still proud owner of Proton. Still believe the product although a lot of people said otherwise and at one stage of my life, although I can afford more expensive car, I still buy Proton. My list of Proton 1987 Saga Magma 1.5I (M) Areoback. 1996 Satria 1.6 1996 Wira 1.8 (A) sedan 2003 Alfadana V6 2010 Persona Elegance Will be buying a Proton in a near future, hehehe
Maybe my next Proton car will be an oldies... Thinking of 1990 Megavalve Saga, hahaha. Got a lot of ideas... Fulfilling my dreams of 20 years ago of having a track ready but road legal car. Btw I am 49 years young
@@azlandin9911 I've been checking Mudah, lots of 1st & 2nd generation Magma & Megavalve Sagas out there in very decent shape for less than rm2k! No kidding, I'm sorely tempted to get one purely for nostalgic reasons, use it with pride as a spare runabout 🤗🤗🤗
My late father pakai saga aeroback. 1.5s...manual...hahaha...very nice car.. Then I buy satria 1.6XLi 2001 till now I still have it but the car in quite bad condition.. Rust roof... But the engine still ok can still go to from kota bharu to KL...
Tahan lasak!!! Really great to hear this, takpe, roof tu blh bikin balik. The fact it's still running well and serving u well, that's awesome 🙏🏽👍🏾😃 Thanks for watching and the feedback Redza!!😊
I drove 3 different versions of Wira, the carburetor 1.5, the aeroback 1.5, the last fuel injection 1.5 Wira that was produced before shifting to my 1st Gen Persona 1.6 IAFM engine. Proton cars may not be the most upmarket cars around, but the drivability and the way it bend corners, really puts a smile at your face. Sad to see that Proton is no longer enthusiastically making cars that could drives really well like its predecessors and smoke their Japanese rivals on corners. But man, walking down this memory lane sure does sparks up some feels. Great video, Chris.
Thank you Subfenom!! Thanks for watching and the feedback, yes, Proton made some really nice driver's cars in the past, with help from Lotus and R3, amazing machines!! So glad u enjoyed this presentation as much as I enjoyed doing it!!🙏🏽👍🏾😃
I had a Saga 2003 for 13 years. While there were issues with certain components such as the power window and lock system, the main components such as the engines and transmission were very reliable. Never been left stranded in my 13 years of ownership.
Wonderful to hear this feedback Garry, thanks for watching!! Yup, powertrain wise the early cars were very good, there are still 1st gen Sagas plying our roads as testament to that 👍🏾😊
My God. My dad own a Proton Savvy 2005 model on black. I would say that car is terrible but I can see when my dad make a U-Turn he is really confident because of the Lotus Ride and Handling. My late grandpa use to be own a Iswara (mybe 98' model) on white with sticker on it. The registration number of that car was SS 918 F if my mom not wrong. I can say all my family members have a Proton. I also have my dream Proton which is the Wira 1.3 GL it just a basic car and it is a MANUAL
Thanks for watching and sharing that!! Enjoyed reading it. Yes, a Wira manual would be a fun car to own and drive, if u don't need 4 doors and big boot, check out the Satria manuals too!!👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾😃
I still have it.. it is a good car with Renault d4f engine 1.2cc... I got manual one...... Still kicking!!!we know about Renault d4f.. cos we are specialist about it...heheh....
Haha......bought a new wira 1.6 auto in '93 for rm62k (waiting Q for the 1.5 auto was simply crazy!)... what a dream car it was with mitsu\lotus DNA : well worth the 12k price difference . A bit disappointed that the Proton Inspira 2.0P is not even present in this 'court of excellence '.........still driving a Mitsui lotus proton 3in1 dna 2011 model : what another great car in its performance & putting the vious's,city's and their older brothers all to shame......it doesn't need to prove anything as that would be an insult to its pedigree ! Cheers ,Chris.
Awesome!! Thanks for watching and the great feedback Liew!! Yup, when they were good, Protons were really good, and when they were bad.... well, you know. 😉
Hahaha!! Thank you Faizal!! I'm very into the history of cars and personally a big fan of old skool classics, there's just something about these old Mercs that I find very appealing, something that's sadly missing from the newer ones, not to say they're bad, just different. Thanks for watching and the comment!!🙏🏽👍🏾😃
Thank you Chris.. you make my day.. Yes, i couldnt agree less to what you say. Be it bmw or merce that you bought its a timeless masterpiece during thier era. Continue on yur great vid with no filters
Yup! That's the same feeling I get too. I have a video of a Proton Savvy that I stumbled on in Taiwan somewhere below, it was epic seeing this little car there 😃😃😃
Proton miss out one of the best they ever made in this collection, the Wira 1.8exi tiang gol. I'm having an Iriz 1.3 MT now, fun car to drive especially on those hill roads
Thanks for sharing this, Chris. This is truly a beautiful trip down memory lane. And I just realized there are many stuff that we didn't know about Proton all these years. I've now come to appreciate the Proton I drive much more!
Tbh i really hope they try to engineer a capable powerful engine and make a probably satria or putra gen 2 or just a Coupe in that sense. After seeing how far proton has come they really should be capable of doing it.
Wow Chris. Thank you so much for this video. Looking at all the Protons in one place really makes me feel proud. Would be nice if they included the actual BTCC Waja/Impian race car... but nevertheless the collection displayed is awesome I am definitely going to Proton CoE when I return to Malaysia 🇲🇾
Just a list of Saga Orion 1.3 & 1.5 Sedan in S and I specs Magma 1.3, 1.5 Sedan n Aeroback Magma Knight 1.5 Areoback Megavalve 1.3, 1.5 Sedan n Areoback Iswara 1.3, 1.5 Saga LMST 1.3, if not mistaken Saga BLM 1.3 Manual, Auto 4 speed, CVT. Sedan only Ada model tinggal kaa?
As a big fan of proton, allow me to correct some facts. Proton putra was launched in 97. Proton perdana E55 was first launched in 94by EON, within few weeks of proton satria by USPD. The perdana v6 E54 first appeared at the end of 98, most models began as 99 model year. This received some touches by Lotus hence the lowered front ride, 16" wheels and an improved handling. But no more manual, which the 4 cylinder version got. .the facelifted PV6 came around 03-04 with the Alfa looks and most importantly an oil intercooler for the gearbox. The very first saga came in 85, first facelift was the magma in 87 along with the sporty sedan model known as Aeroback. An automatic version was added in 1988. And second facelift came in 90 with megavalve version. That's before the major revamped of Saga known as Iswara which was helped and developed by a British firm known as IAD if not.mistaken. That very first car the blue aeroback was a UK spec as evident in the rear end fog lamps and protruded number plate lights but that Proton 1001 used to belong to Dr. M (of course on the earlier sedan version). The one thing that you could have highlighted better was the CPS engine which was the original intention of proton creating the Campro series. A simple valve lift system (but patended by Lotus and even licensed to Porsche),had bumped up the power from 110bhp to 125bhp, killing the torque dip and made proton models wonderfully cheerful to drive, especially in the Gen2 and satria Neo, a little bit in the Waja but definitely not the Exora. Wondering why Proton killed it though.
Thanks a lot for the excellent feedback!! Much appreciated Fauzan, good stuff 👍🏾😊 2nd rule of media: Never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Hahahaha!!Guess what's the 1st rule? 😉
I really loved the Gen.2 design during that time. It can be say that the design is ahead of its time. Even 8th gen civic is using similar head lamp design to the 2004 Gen.2 .
Anyone remember the time when proton even sponsored the Premier League. If they could have continued that, I am confident that they could be capable in competing against Honda,Toyota, Hyundai all those.
I actually liked driving my Gen-2. It felt taut when I drove it, and I didn't have much problems with my old Gen-2. My Honda City bought at the same time was far more problematic!
Good to hear that, driving wise yes, it was just the fit & finish and build quality that let the car down unfortunately. Thanks for watching and the feedback, appreciate it!!👍🏾😃
Oh . I was hoping to see that because those is like super rare and even if you found one . It’s would either in poor conditions or heavily modified . I was hoping to see those car in stock condition. Lol
I had the s gt years ago growing up in australia. along with the skyline, it could beat a stock v8 commmodore or falcon. all the white aussies hated us asians driving it lollll
Juara is quite boxy. Hope you can make a review of it. I am wondering why Proton didn't put Exora Prime on the gallery as it was limited edition 7 seater mpv made. I planned to loan one (Exora Prime) because it is very limited and rare.
Hi Alvinson, actually quite a few models are missing from the line up, there no Suprima either. Thanks for watching and the feedback though, much appreciated 🙏🏽👍🏾😃
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. The feeling of the new mega valve saga with manual transmission is still vivid. The perawan yellow colour, the infamous proton pick up and cool air con!
My first Proton car was the Knight...can't believe that there was no power steering then and driving it daily I can feel my arm getting toned and muscular just moving the wheel! But it looked super then!
Hi Keith, I would really love to, cos it's still a popular ute here too. Stopped production a long while ago, but it has retained its market value quite well here; better than its sedan and liftback siblings. Let's see what I can do!! Thanks for watching and the suggestion!!🙏🏽👍🏾😀
It would be great if some of the display unit is using back the original rim cap. Chris, wat is different between perdana sei and sei limited? Leather seat? Do you ever test drive on E01 engined waja? Or any chance can persuade proton to let u hv a go in the COE so you can tell us how good it is in ur video? I remember this e01 is one of the high output 2.0 inline 4 other than honda f20c and toyota altezza's 3s-ge.
Nope never got to try the E01. It would have been a fantastic engine to have in a hot hatch or performance 4dr sedan like a Subaru Impreza, sadly it wasn't meant to be. There's no way Proton would ever let that one last unit out of the COE, plus I doubt it can even start much less run anymore, hahaha!! Limited was more upgrades on trim level and add-ons 😊
Proton now is collaborating with Geely from china, kind of disappointed but i really hope they can find some success from those more successful companies Before you say, i dont think the X70 is a success because the car is not made and designed by proton itself
Thanks for watching and the feedback!! I really don't think anyone should bemoan this collaboration, it's perfectly natural in the motoring industry for this to happen, and usually the results are positive. Take for example Skoda & Seat cars, which became much, much better after they went under the VW umbrella. I'm hoping it's going to be the same for Proton under Geely, and thus far it's proving to be so 😃🤞🏾🙏🏽👍🏾
@@ChrisWeevilGarage i really want know the details of proton collaboration with geely. I heard that proton isnt going to build the car with geely and im not happy about it. Hope that im wrong
@@shadowwsk3507 there will always be Proton input in any models moving forward, not to worry. It's not like the local staff there are just sitting around twiddling their thumbs. It's the same as when they were rebadging Mitsubishis, a lot of local elements, content, design, as well as re-engineering and and especially ride & handling was done in-house, so not to worry ya, they are still Protons 😃👍🏾
Geely would make Proton better in business. But in national security , you need to wait and see. China are super power. They can help Proton to be global car maker but it's hard to bargain with super power. Malaysia should have another car brand that collaborate with Asean nations to balance the power. It's easier to bargain with Asean nations.
@@1beck2en3ham there were already talks about a 3rd national car, and also a flying car (ahem) but we have to wait and see, it's simmered down of late. Thanks for watching and the feedback, much appreciated 👍🏾😃
Gosh...I remember how harsh was the vibration inside the old Saga and Iswara. I wonder if both cars have enough engine mountings to reduce the vibration. As for Tiara and Savvy, being equipped with French engine (albeit from two different makers), finding spare parts will be a tedious task. Haih...
@@ChrisWeevilGarage No doubt Savvy was a fuel-sipping cutie. I was surprised when you say Bangkok still has lots of Savvy roaming around, which makes me think whether Renault-based spare parts are pretty abundant in that part of Thailand (since Savvy used 1.2L Renault-sourced engine)
@@ChrisWeevilGarage On another note, I think you should do special presentation on the dilemmas facing owners of cars with Conti-made engines in Msia. You'll see how Msians in metro areas of KL/JB/Penang and second-tier major towns have different opinions about the costs of maintaining car engines of European and Asian origins. It might also help us in understanding why Toyota, Daihatsu (Perodua engines included) Mitsubishi and Honda engines are very dominant outside the KL-JB-Penang areas.
Chris, I just wondered....if Gen 2 has so much horrible stories of things falling apart after few years of ownership, what about the quality issues on the previous gen Persona which was based on the Gen 2?
Let me put it this way, there was a time period in that era of Proton cars that were very wanting in terms of build quality and components used, I refer to it as the dark ages of Proton. Thankfully it's looking much, much better these days. As I said in another comment, even the new Saga, despite being in a lower segment, is better put together with better quality materials than the cars you mentioned. Thanks for watching and the comment!!👍🏾🙏🏽😃
@@ChrisWeevilGarage I actually like the old Persona since the handling and suspension tuning were pretty impressive during its lifetime, plus it didn't have that "sculpted muffin" or "sculpted bread" look of the current gen Persona. From what I've seen, there are still (slightly) more old Personas than Gen 2, which suggested it had better QC and fittings than the Gen 2 it was based on. But, fuel pump was its vulnerable flaw which saw plenty of Persona drivers suffered from engine stalling.
@@izzatfauzimustafa6535 thanks a lot for the feedback, it's much appreciated. I have a Waja from that era, which has a wonderful powertrain, as well as ride and handling, unfortunately that's where the accolades end. You can check out why by scrolling below in one of my earlier videos on the car. No offense to owners intended, as I am one of them too, I've owned 7 Protons in my life...so far 😊🙏🏽
@@ChrisWeevilGarage You're welcome, Chris. I owned a 7-year old Saga FLX Executive Trim with manual transmission. It's still a great "A to B" car that loves to be driven on long distance journeys despite it having a clutch slave cylinder failure a year ago (which broke my heart with its RM700 repair + labor charge bill). Btw, when you showed the Waja with British police livery in that video. I remembered seeing pics of cops in the city of Hull, England, using several fleets of Wira, Waja and prev-gen Persona for their urban patrol cars.
@@izzatfauzimustafa6535 yup that's right, they did use them as cop cars there!! I've been looking at used Saga Megavalve 1.5s, the 1.3 variant was my first car, always wondered what the 1.5 was like 😁 Can u believe it, I racun myself with my own video... Hahahaha!!🤣
In Thailand, I see Persona as often as Savvy. I don't know about Persona and Savvy but I know about Exora because 2 persons that I know have an Exora. 2 Exoras are reliable.They have run for 6 years without any problem. After the first car in the eco car project was launched (Nissan March) , Proton have gradually faded away from Thai market. Eco car from Japanese brands were as cheap as Savvy so the good point of Proton were disappear. And Pranakorn group(Proton's dealer in Thailand) are not a big company so they can't fight in long term. It would be better, if Proton could deal with a big Thai company. And it will be great, if Proton send the car to sell in Thailand as Thai brand.
Great to hear this from the ground over there, thanks a lot for the feedback!! Yup, I remember the eco car scheme there, vast price incentives to get one, it was, and has been, a hot topic during Bangkok Motorshow, one of the best autoshows in the region 👍🏾😃
My father used to owned 5 proton which is saga sedan and aeroback and wira sedan and the last would be the waja which is the most unreliable car and suffered a lot of problems which everyone know power windows,broken door handle and a lot of problems until he finally said he had enough with proton and bought the foreign cars instead.Until now,no matter how good proton cars is, he still not convince with the proton build quality.
Thanks for watching and the feedback!! This is exactly the mindset I was referring to in my video, that time when Proton lost the faith of consumers. It was a bad time for them, and a very sad time for us!! I really hope with Geely in the picture now, things will get a lot better. It looks like it is actually 😊🤞🏾🙏🏽
@@ChrisWeevilGarage ya i hope they will improve themselves with geely ownership. I still remember when I was a child my dad try to open the door of his waja, suddenly the door handle broken and power windows suddenly rosak when try pay the toll and since that, he swear that he won't buy anything from proton. Until today, whenever proton launch brand new model, he just go there have a look and no matter how many improvements they already done, he still have the old mindset which can't be removed until now.
@@zulfadhlizainol6678 exactly right. As I said, changing someone's mind is easy, changing a mindset is terribly difficult... unfortunately too many have been irreversibly hurt by past experiences with the brand. It's going to be a long process for Proton, but they seem to be on the right track 🙏🏽😊
It would have been too costly to mass produce, and with only a very limited application allowing its use. I guess it was more an engineering and R&D study / project 😊
Chris Wee proton back in the day didn't quite worry about costs did they? The e01 engines were built by petronas iirc. I remember reading about proton wanting to revive the project but ran into issues with emissions. Not sure how true that was. Still it would have been great to have our own developed engine in our national car.. even if it was only for a single model (yes I'm discounting the lame horse campor engines )
@@heesingsia4634 I think cost overruns were one of the biggest concerns back in the day, to the point that substandard materials and components were being used to make the cars. As I said the E01 engine while stupendous, would have had limited applications in the real world, so the cost for developing it en masse would not have been financially viable.
Chris Wee you have a valid point about cost overruns. I just don't remember proton being too worried about that when it came to development. I may not have had 8 protons like you did (wira,wira,saga,putra,waja) but I was passionate about the brand back then. E01w engine first came about during the 2000 millennium endurance race iirc. You probably wrote an article on it for 'motoring' or something. Petronas built it as a national service (to justify our partnership with sauber). I remember it being big back then. Only for the project to go all quiet. Later I read about petronas not wanting to partner due to money issues (pretty strange since they're all government linked) . I can only speculate politics being involved in the shelving of this interesting project. You have a good night.
@@heesingsia4634 thanks a lot for the feedback and reminders, yes, you're right about the joint development with Petronas on the E01 engine, as well as the sudden pull out, which left Proton in a lurch with this engine. Putting it into production themselves would have been just too costly I guess. Thanks for watching and the comment!🙏🏽😊👍🏾
Me : i think i know all Proton Cars that is exists on the road *this video exists* So i learn that Proton Perdana V6 exists. Great, where's my wallet to make one?
The Saga (start of video) is not exactly the Saga. The whole car is the 8 Valve version. Spotted these: 1) Wheel covers. 2) Side signal lamps belongs 12V megavalve version not exactly the 8V version. The last one in the video is then the truly original Saga. However, the legends of Proton will always be; 1st: WIRA (Hot car during that time) 2nd: Saga
@@ChrisWeevilGarage I was a crazy Proton fan then because my family owned the Saga in the 90s in Singapore for 6 yrs before changing to a facelifted WIRA in '96, which we drove on for 13 yrs before selling it off. WIRA was really really a real workhorse I got to say.
@@ianpolo5673 damn right!! Of the 7 Protons I've owned, I had 2 Wira variants, a Wira sedan 1.5 auto and a Wira 1.6 Millennium Edition manual, I loved them! I drove the Wira auto to Phuket and back, without even getting the car checked-out first, just got in and drove, it didn't put a wheel wrong the whole way to and fro. The Millennium Edition 1.6 liftback was a great car, and pretty quick too!! I hope they're both still on the road happily serving their new owners well 😊
@@azlandin9911 yes indeed!! Someone in the design department there was an Alfa Romeo fan for sure, there's elements of AR styling in other models too 😁
