Whether it was selling shoes, serving popcorn or flipping burgers, nobody forgets their first job. Mine was washing cars at the local car dealership. The owner and patron was an intimidating, pot-bellied figure faintly reminiscent of Mr Bronson from TV's Grange Hill. Obsessed with keeping up appearances, he was permanently attired in a blazer with cufflinks, he drove a gold coloured Rolls-Royce and would spend hours fine-tuning the empire from behind a large mahogany desk in the showroom. The customers were all known to him personally and treated like foreign heads of state. My job was hand washing the Protons.
At the time, Proton dealerships were busy selling the Persona, a Colt built under licence from Mitsubishi. For me, polishing badges offered the perfect vantage point to people-watch. And I can report the following observation: the Proton customer base had a brand loyalty surpassing that of a kamikaze pilot.
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90s Mitsubishi influence in the 3-box design |
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It would be another seven years before the Malaysian automaker attempted a car of its own, the current range-topping Impian, during which time Lotus would become a subsidiary. Today, six years later, this medium-sized 4-door saloon is still on sale from only £10,595 on-the-road.
Taking into account the age of this car, casual observers are justified in seeing the '90s Mitsubishi influence in the 3-box design. Moving those three boxes occurs thanks to the 1.6-litre Campro engine. Here Proton claims the first of several Lotus influences, namely in the genesis of this 16-valve DOHC unit. Despite sharing a name, it differs slightly from the Campro engine found in the smaller GEN-2 thanks to increased power output. Impian drivers have 110bhp at their disposal, with modest maximum torque of 140Nm arriving at 2750rpm.
The relative lack of power makes it rather frugal: 40.3 miles per gallon on the combined cycle says the handbook, although fans of economical driving will have to live without an onboard computer. Tailpipe CO2 emissions of 167g/km place the Impian into road tax band E, meaning you'll need to find £165 per annum to keep the DVLA off your case at current rates.
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