Proton Perdana Spyshots & Its Motherhood Story

Much has been said about the new Proton Perdana. It has been an ill-fated project since the mid of last decade and until today it is yet (albeit assumed nearly) to materialize. The original model was introduced back in 1995 to provide an upgraded mobility for the Malaysia aspire to own the stuff like Honda Accord. Things soared to a great success back then with many, many unit sold.

As I recalled, Proton glory days then are over. So are all the mega car plan. The earlier effort was in tandem with the defunct Proton MSX, but canned indefinitely The the resurrection plan was announced to the public with the old bed-partner Mitsubishi Galant and finally there was a hurrah on Nissan Fuga too. Volkswagen Passat was also mentioned somewhere somehow in between. Then Proton shocked everyone by announcing Honda deals, and Perdana-badged on a generation-old Honda Accord soon hits the (government) street.

For the civilian model, Proton said they have re-designed the car in total. How total is that remains to be seen. But judging from this latest spy photos, the changes are quite there.

Comparing it with the 2008 Honda Accord, it can be seen the design lineage is still there. Look at the A-pillar shape and its angle together with the front door cut-out, the car is still visibly carrying large chunk of Accord chassis there. The location of door outside handle, for both front and rear too mimics the positioning on its older Japanese brother. Ditto for the metal trailing edge of the rear door. However the rear door top opening possibly has been altered, together with the redesigning of the C-pillar. The whole rear appears longer then the donor car.

I am not sure if Proton still lengthen the car still, as the old Accord is pretty much "whale-like" already at 4,940mm. Inching to 5m magical mark won't be a case more than extra stroke of styling lines.

The front area will no doubt features Proton trade-mark fascia of wing-like grille ornaments with headlight fixed on the same similar like. Whether it is going to be elaborated like Iriz or subtle like Preve remains to be seen. 

The rear end is described by someone who has seen it as "has a hint of Jaguar". However, I take it as layman description as there is a similarity in Proton Preve rear fascia with the current crops of Jaguar too.

Powertrain-wise, do expect Honda powerplant to stay on. If miracle happens, the Malaysia-design Petronas engine could make it appearance. But since the NE01 is yet to make it launch in its intended market, don't hope too much.

In one of the interview with Paultan, Tun Mahathir says “For high end cars – Nissan has Infiniti, Toyota has Lexus. The Perdana will be our high end car". High expectation indeed.

Interior Photos of Proton Perdana Limousine

 

The Prime Minister of Malaysia launched the new Proton Perdana last week for the consumption of the government officials and of course, himself and his deputy included. The car comes in both 2.0L and 2.4L version as it is in its previous life as Honda Accord. The exterior styling change is very mild, concentrating on the new front bumper and grille assembly while the trunk lid trimmings has been suitably updated. The detail change of the exterior can be seen in MMN previous post, HERE.

As for the interior, Proton has put its own emblem on the steering wheel while the rest is carried over wholesomely from the Alor Gajah's made Honda Accord. The instrument panel, centre console, gear panel and pretty much everything is familiar. Where Proton works their art is for the limousine version for the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.

Similar in trend with Proton's previous limousine, the rear passenger compartment is isolated from the chauffeur. Proton has inserted the "dashboard panel" to the rear compartment housing the the airconditioning vent and perhaps the sound system too. It looks like the lower part of the dashboard as in the front of the car. There's no fancy gadget and extreme opulence here so perhaps this is just the initial mock-up as it is quite bare.The extended window panel is actually opaque, and it housed the speaker. The legroom is humongous.

The rear seat is strictly for two, and the arm rest panel houses all the controls, presumably for the audio and other comfort item. The seat and door trim are upholstered in two-tone theme. We are still trying to get the details of the extended Proton Perdana such as the detail dimensions and more photos but it does not seem to be possible. 

New Proton Perdana Revealed, Limo Included

Proton today has handed over the first batch of the new Proton Perdana to the Prime Minister in a special event, and set to replace the ageing outgoing model which has been in service since last decade. As the whole world know, the "new" Proton Perdana is a redevelopment of the previous 8th generation Honda Accord from the year 2008. The Honda Accord has been reinterpreted with Proton design touch which include new front grille, new front bumper with heavily chromed front bumper insert ( a bit like the facelifted large Saab) while the rear end retains the old bumper, but the inner reflector on the trunk lid has been removed (ala pre-facelifted US Accord) with the chrome bar intact and the license plate area has been heavily garnished with chrome too. 

For the Prime Minister of Malaysia and the Deputy Prime Minister, Proton has stretched the 8th-gen Honda Accord by significant amount to be a proper limo. However, it is obviously an unseamless stretched job as the the different in height of the front door trailing edge and rear door leading edge can clearly be seen and it is matched with the splintered panel. We don't know how long the wheelbase is extended, but it looks as if it is more than 300mm. The chrome finish on the window surround is removed too.

Also unleashed on the same day is the standard wheelbase version for the new Proton Perdana for other government official use. The standard version is more akin to your cooking Honda Accord although it too receives the similar front and rear end updates. More details after the jump.

Spyshots: Proton Rebadged Honda Accord

Proton Perdana replacement has had a very turbulence gestation period. The replacement model has been in the planning since the days of Proton MSX when the replacement was intended to look like a sedan version of the aluminium crossover. Of course it never happen. Then we started seeing a Mitsubishi 380 with Proton badge, and even the latest Mitsubishi Galant in 2006. Then came the Nissan Fuga thing and finally the freshest of them all is the rebadged Honda Accord. 

So, based on this sighting at Paultan, the government officials are set to drive the recycled Honda Accord. Proton has added their badge the normal place - front grille, steering wheel boss, and the rear fascia. We don't know yet if there's any restyling, but it should be very minor. What do you think? Is it worth it to design the car only to serve government officials? Two more photos after the jump.