The history of Proton Perdana, the first mid size and executive car from Proton catered for upper mid range market. All credits goes to the owners of the original photos.
As a start, the Proton Perdana's origin can be traced to Mitsubishi roots like the earlier Proton Saga, Wira and Satria.
The Perdana was rebadged and based on the 1992 E50 chassis Mitsubishi Eterna like the one pictured here.
The E50 Mitsubishi Eterna is actually a closely related car with the 7th generation E50 Mitsubishi Galant. Chassis and mechanical parts wise, both cars are identical.
Though both the E50 Eterna and E50 Galant shared the same platform and chassis, they are different externally. Most body exclusive parts aren't interchangeable between these two cars though mechanical parts are the same.
On January 1995, the Proton Perdana was launched by Proton, around 3 years after the launch of the E50 Mitsubishi Eterna in Japan during 1992.
Positioned at an upper market segment compared to the other Proton cars, the Perdana was sold at a much higher price tag at RM85,000. At launch, only two options were available for the Perdana which is be the 5 speed manual transmission and 4 speed automatic transmission. There are no different engine options for the Perdana.
Externally, the Proton Perdana is an identical car with the E50 Mitsubishi Galant without any changes at all except for the front grille and rear reflector.
Unlike the earlier Saga and Wira that received major redesign on the car's exterior, the Perdana maintained the same body with the original Eterna.
As seen in this photo, the headlamps, front bumper and hood of the E50 Mitsubishi Eterna are same like the ones found in the Perdana.
The headlamps for the Perdana are the same ones found in the E50 Eterna and were made by Koito Japan.
As for the rear lamps, they were made by Stanley Electric Japan.
The Perdana is a very well equipped car during its time. It was equipped with ABS system, cruise control, 4 power windows, 4 disc brakes and automatic retractable side mirrors.
The rear design of the Perdana is also the same as the E50 Mitsubishi Eterna with the same bumper and lamps used. The only difference is the addition of the Proton and Perdana emblem. The ETERNA wording on the rear reflector was also removed in the Perdana.
Pictured here is a Perdana painted in its signature dark purple paint which was only available during the first batch of Perdana.
Basically the rear end of the E50 Eterna is the same with the Perdana with the exception of the badges and the ETERNA wording on the rear reflector.
The similarity between the Perdana and E50 Eterna carries on to the interior as well. From this photo, both the interior of the Eterna (top) and Perdana (bottom) are compared.
They are almost fully identical except for the steering wheel horn cover with Proton emblem and the Perdana does not come with a heater for the air conditioner.
Engine wise, the Perdana is powered by a 2 litre 4G63 SOHC 16 valve engine sourced from Mitsubishi with an output of 135hp and 176nm of torque.
In case you might be wondering about the engine name being familiar, you are right in your guess. It is from the same 4G63 engine family like the ones found in the famous Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution except that this one here came with a SOHC cylinder head and wasn't turbocharged.
Both the Perdana and E50 Eterna shared same mechanical parts which also includes the suspension system.
Even though Mitsubishi named the suspension as multi link suspension for both front and rear suspension, the design itself is actually a double wishbone suspension as seen by the upper arm that is commonly found in double wishbone suspension.
It is a complicated suspension with many linkages and it is definitely an impressive form of engineering found in a Malaysian made car back then.
In 1998, the first facelift for the Perdana came. In this facelift, the Perdana received several changes and the major one being the engine itself.
The old 4G63 SOHC engine had been replaced by a 6A12 DOHC V6 engine that was also sourced from Mitsubishi. Hence the name was also changed to Proton Perdana V6. The manual transmission option is also dropped and only the 4 speed automatic transmission is available for the Perdana from now on.
The Perdana also received several external changes like the grille, wheels and bumpers.
The different front bumper and grille for the 1998 Proton Perdana V6. If you're wondering about the origin for the design of this front bumper, it was also adopted from the E50 Mitsubishi Eterna.
The E50 Mitsubishi Eterna with the same front bumper as the 1998 Proton Perdana V6.
This is actually the facelift variant for the E50 Eterna in year 1994 where the front bumper design is now similar to the one found in the E50 Mitsubishi Emeraude. Also the front grille for the E50 Eterna had been changed.
The 1992 E50 Mitsubishi Emeraude. You can see that the front bumper is very similar to the one found in the 1998 Proton Perdana V6 and the 1994 facelifted E50 Mitsubishi Eterna.
This is also another sibling of the E50 chassis that is very similar to the E50 Galant and E50 Eterna. Though the Emeraude was sold as a hardtop sedan due to the fact that the it had frameless doors. Again, mechanically similar to the Eterna and Galant but had a completely different exterior parts.
The wheels for the Perdana had also been changed to a larger 16 inch wheels compared to the 15 inch wheels found in the earlier Perdana.
The rear design for the Proton Perdana V6 facelift was also changed slightly.
The rear reflector now no longer featured the reverse lamp and it actually had a PERDANA emblem attached to it but this example here had the emblem removed.
The reverse lamp had been relocated to the rear bumper and this is actually designed by Proton themselves as the E50 Eterna facelift did not alter the reverse lamp position.
The 2 litre 6A12 DOHC V6 engine found in the Perdana V6. This engine over here is also sourced from Mitsubishi. Compared to the older inline-4 4G63 engine, the new 6A12 V6 engine is slightly more powerful at 143hp with around 179nm of torque.
This is also the first Malaysian car that is powered by a 6 cylinder engine.
The 6A12 V6 engine is also an engine option found in the E50 Mitsubishi Eterna even before its facelift.
Not much changes were made to the interior during the facelift with the exception of faux wood trims and leather seats.
This example here had been converted to a 5 speed manual transmission and aftermarket speakers were added to the door cards. Other than that, it is all original like how it should be.
During this time, a long wheel base variant of the Perdana was also made for VIP and Malaysian government high ranking officials. It was named as the Proton Perdana V6 Executive. As you can see, the rear doors are noticeably longer than a normal Perdana due to its extended wheelbase.
The interior of the Perdana V6 Executive with a spacious legroom and a table tray.
In year 2003, the second facelift for the Perdana arrived. The bumpers, rear lamps, rear reflector and grille had been changed. The Perdana now received a different wheel design although size remained the same at 16 inch. The suspension is also tweaked by Proton with the help Lotus to improve handing and stability. Engine however remained the same.
The front bumper and grille of the year 2003 Perdana were designed by Proton themselves as they are no longer adopted from any Mitsubishi models. Some may actually call this as "Alfa" facelift due to its resemblance with Alfa Romeo cars.
The interior received some changes such as a 4 spoke steering wheel and white background metre cluster with chrome garnish at side.
Some time later, a special limousine variant of the Perdana was also made by Proton. It had an even longer wheelbase than the Perdana Executive and even more luxuriously equipped. It was named as Proton Perdana V6 Limousine.
The rear of the Proton Perdana V6 Limousine.
The second facelift Perdana had a different rear lamp design and the reverse lamp had been relocated back to the rear reflector again like the early model.
During the last batches of Perdana in late year 2000s, the Perdana received some minor changes such as a different wheel design and a beige interior like this example here. The production of the Perdana continued all the way until year 2010 before it was discontinued.
As a final conclusion, the Proton Perdana itself is a great iconic car by Proton. It remained in production for 15 years with little changes. It is always seen as an upper mid range car due to its price tag and its close association with Malaysian high ranking government officials.
It is also the title carrier for several first in Malaysian automotive history such as the first executive mid size car and the first 6 cylinder engine powered car. Not to mention that it came with remarkable features and engineering like the suspension system.
Today, these first generation Proton Perdana carries very little value on the used car market where their price had now depreciated to same price level with cheaper Proton cars such as the Saga and Wira. Sounds like quite a bargain at the used car market but definitely one should expect maintenance costs that doesn't come as cheap as the Saga and Wira.
As a classic and icon, there really isn't much appreciation for the Perdana. Many are seeing the first generation Proton Saga as classic today and likely the Wira will follow soon. Sadly for the Perdana, it did not receive the same kind of love and appreciation yet. Perhaps the day of realization might come some day in the future. Hopefully at that time, these old Perdana are still in good condition, not in conditions that are beyond saving. By the way, the first batch year 1995 Proton Perdana is turning 25 years old this year, effectively placing them into the classic car territory.
