Proton recently gave a press statement to Channel4’s 4Car regarding it’s sports car project.
It also promises “a mid-engined lightweight sports car” – developed, no doubt, by Lotus, though to be offered at Proton prices.
The design for the Proton sports car project, which I will refer to as Proton Ultimate in this blog post for convenience sake, has been patented by Proton and the patent has been filed with the UK Patent Office. The design was registered on 30th July 2004 and approved on 30th August 2004.
Here are photos from the patent filing:
Definitely reminds us alot of a Lotus. The original location of the pictures filed with the patent are available here.
The picture I used at the top of this post is an artist’s 3D rendering of how the final product will look like, based on these patent design filings.
The patent design was originally registered to Lotus but moved to Proton as at 19th January 2005. Details available here.
Thanks to Kimi for the sources.
Related Posts:
Proton Ultimate – Proton Sports Car Road Test?
An Insight into the Proton Ultimate’s Specifications
Proton Ultimate Updates
WOW! I LIKE !!!
seriously beeindrückt!
also check out this article
but can it sells?
No idea on whether it might sell or not . But the Design sure is GOOD!
I just hope the windows stick.
out dated design. looks too much like a hyundai tiburon. though im quite sure performance should be better.
will have to see in the end if they sacrifice drivability for performance like most lotus cars. gota beware if its made by proton as well.
"out dated design. looks too much like a hyundai tiburon."
pray tell, what is 'out-dated' design? have u not heard of 'retro'? it's a timeless muscle car design! does NOT look like a tiburon…the rear is reminiscent of american muscle cars, e.g. ford gto or corvette, front has shades of porsche, side from ferrari…no car designer worth his salt would even look one eye at some korean crap wannabe! it's a LOTUS for crying out loud!
"will have to see in the end if they sacrifice drivability for performance like most lotus cars."
what is 'drivability'? is that even a word? NOBODY buys performance cars for comfort/safety! it's all about the SPEED (how fast it goes), ACCELERATION (how powerful engine is) and HANDLING (how good it goes)…u want comfort, buy an mpv!
spare us car afficiandos your patronizing comments!
That really looks great. WOw! you did it again Paul. You beat all the other guys with the pics.
Some of us have actually seen pictures of the planned Proton sports cars early last year. There was a market survey for certain individuals (esp those who drive performance cars).
I was one of them although at that point I drove a 1.8 Proton Persona only. Not that its any different now with another Proton – the Satria R3.
A few of us got together to be interviewed by a independent PR/marketing representative. Lasted 1.5 hours, covering our interests, dream cars, criteria for buying a car, price we would pay to buy a local made sportscar.
No names were revealed of the 'local car maker', but we knew it was Proton. Pretty darn obvious. We were shown specs, 0-100 in 4.9seconds, 220bhp turbo-charged 2 litre engine. Elise platform. The pictures they showed reminded us of the Vauxhall VX220, which is also a turbo-charged sportscar based on the Elise. We were asked how much we would pay for one if the local car maker was to produce one. I answered RM150K-RM180K. I told them quality IS an issue which needs to be addressed if the car was to be developed.
At the end of the session, we were all given pretty expensive gifts worth around RM400 for our time. I got an Aigner wallet.
could this be my 1st sports car?? :)not so bad i would say..as long under RM 150K..
vernon: thank you for the information! :)
This question was posted on the yahoo.com.my
“Should the government protect Proton from foreign competition?â€
more than 66% respondence agree to “No protection please. Proton needs to compete globally or sink â€
Having to raise my children, I know we need to let them learn by themselves.
Our son Proton is now 30 years old, still studying in the University, and when there was a big bully push him around, father have to make a trip to the school to inform the teacher , and look for the bully.
Poor old father is now 65+ and one will imagine how long will father still need to do this.
Our son Proton graduated and started working is a big firm, at now age 40, married and have child of his own, his manager scolded our son proton and make him do the report again, poor old father, now at age 75+, DO YOU THINK HE NEED TO GO TO THE OFFICE TO SCOLD THE MANAGER.
GROW UP PROTON
"Our son Proton is now 30 years old, still studying in the University….."
Proton was incorporated in 1983 and started making cars in SEPT 1985. So the national carmaker has barely 20 years' experience.
1) Get your facts right
2) Cut Proton some slack; given the short period, what Proton's achieved is commendable
3) Do you realize that the Korean carmakers have been making vehicles since the 1950's and the Japanese since before the war? So Proton has had a very steep learning curve and yet quality-wise Protons are already on par, if not better than the Hyundai/Kia…
4) The Japanese and Koreans have had a protected auto industry in the last 40+ years…only recently have foreign makes been granted entry into their markets, albeit with various hurdles imposed…
"more than 66% respondence agree to “No protection please. Proton needs to compete globally or sink â€"
Ah, but a significant minority (33%) does not concur to such a view. Of course Proton needs to be competitive at the global level. The thing is protection must not be cut off in one fell swoop. As an independent car producer (unlike (spit) Perodua, Naza or Inokom which implement 'rebadge engineering') Proton has the ability to design cars from scratch. Let's see what they can come up in the coming years…..
to napps,
pray tell what takes proton so long to fix their power window? If u take so long to fix a simple thing, it will take soooo long to expect malaysians to trust proton lah…
Looks like a rebodied Elise to me.. If it uses the Elise's full aluminium chassis… then its gonna be a real rocket
"pray tell what takes proton so long to fix their power window?"
there is a dark side to proton's procurement methods. the fault lies with certain (not all)lousy vendors, who are politically well-connected and despite proton's efforts to improve in quality, have been recalcitrant and refuse to heed the call. unfortunately, one of these vendors supply the power window mechanism, and has been one of the main sore points of proton's quality. suffice to say the firm is publicly listed and has a top-ranking ex-army honcho in the board of directors. however, market talk has it that the firm's supply contract was not renewed for the Gen.2 and the upcoming models; however the firm still supplies the older mitsubishi-based models (groan!). under the recent tuv audit, the firm is said to fall under category C (the worst lot!), and therefore will not be able to participate in supplying parts for future possible proton-assembled VWs. nonetheless, the firm has acknowledged the potential effects of further loss of supply contracts and recently ventured into an agri-based business (?!!).
Ultimate lack of originality.
It looks like a Mazda MX3(1992) from the side.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_MX-3
Whoever approve the design should buy a beancurd and bang on it. They should redesign this car and give it more "wings"
moo: wow, your expectations are quite high. this is a lotus design.
napps….
sorry but before you flame other people….look at what car they are trying to create…..the ferrari concept is different when compared to lotus. What i mean in drivability means if they tune the car towards a lotus car or Elise like….where you cant drive it everyday and its only a track car. These cars do not sell much in numbers as you know….since lotus cant even manage to keep themselves afloat and even allow a foreign small country to buy up thier british pride. A car of this type is aimed towards comfort and performance. Unless they want to build just a bigger Elise….then not many people would take a look at it.
next…..i didnt say korean cars are that good. but i do beleive they are much more capable than proton to make a performance car. One more thing….i do not think it is a lotus for crying out loud. If you wanted to make such a good car….problably better for you to brand it a LOTUS instead of a proton. Financially. Nobody is going to buy an NSX, what makes you think they gonna buy a proton sportscar (not supercar). proton has never been able to undercut any of the other car makers cars in every market segment….what makes you think this is going to make waves in the motor industry. It would problably be an affordable sports car for malaysians only. In the other markets they would preferbly spend thier money elsewhere. If its really 150K or less, then i would say affordable by malaysian standards and would be good for us to buy since other similar performance cars will taxed out of our price range by the gmen protection. All late models of protons have failed miserably. Satria, waja, gen2 and now savvy. Sure they can design cars from scratch but alot of people or countries can do that if they wanted to. more or less they keep using other people parts and slap it onto thier modified shells. With thier current progress, they would only get lower and lower rather than get ahead of the pack. i dont see them breaking any new markets anytime soon particularly in fair level playing markets. and i also think the myvi will outsell the savvy by alot.
I feel Lotus can design more desireble looking cars than this. Specs are only half of the equation of a performance car. if proton could have delivered some better results in thier econocar market, then maybe things would look brighter for the up coming sportscar. i agree with moo….the design looks too Gen2 like…..it needs more wings. Even the Civic Si looks tons better. and we're looking at patent pictures only not the real thing.
As for the comment on toyota protecting thier own market. Sure they did, but then again they just about conquered just about most of the every other market in the world at the same time. and are dominating now.
On another note, i would say that if they price it nicely for us consumers in malaysia, it would be nice for once to buy a new sportscar instead of buying used imports. (for us the less rich ones). but i wouldnt hold my breath. It will be an ok car with a desireable MR format. hopefully it does not ride too rough so its not a track exclusive. lets hope they also dont subsidize it for foreign markets again while giving us watered down versions of the car. Just have a feelin the brits will get the better version. typical proton style.
and drivability word is a typo in the first post of mine….should be driveability if thats correct. napps should have picked that up by now. and dont assume driveability means comfort and safety. It means exactly what it means. Not many affordable/rich people would want to drive a car that is harsh/rough and noisy. Speed and acceleration can be done just by about any company or modifiers if they want. the only thing is that they need to match that with handling and comfort and also gear that towards the intended customers wants and needs.
hehehe. proton needs to do alot to win my trust
Let's face it.
The fact is, Korean cars are far better then Proton's nowadays. Hyundai ranked top 10 in most reliable and flawless new car in North America in year 2005. The other listed brands are Lexus, Jaguar, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Mercedes, Toyota, Audi, Infiniti and Hummer. Not even Honda, Nisan GMC and Volvo are able to achieve such honor. See the reports here.
So, stop comparing Proton with Hyundai. We do not deserve it.
Rachmaninov, u r right. i saw a news(year 2000 news)before, claimed that in 2003 proton will have sport car. Then what we see now,2005?? Picture only. In yahoo try search with 'proton' & u will see this news in 1 of the web. Sure we cannot compare with Hyundai, they build super giant ship with world fastest delivery record, terminal crane with unique delivery method, highway & car. They have the ambition like japanese to copy & become excel also. But, our proton, 20years of copycat experience still not enough?? The son already matured & can produce next generation already…
Is the car built by hand like most sport cars did?
Itu EDW manyak lancau punya olang….
Dia apa pun tak tau…
Cakap manyak punya olang….lu lancau la edw
WoW
Nice car!!!
But got no money to buy 1….he he he
^&^(*&)((*(*((&(^%^&%
can it drive through the f**kin' bumpers on malaysian roads?
Read the Business Time yesterday .
MyVi booking already surpass 33,000 units. Already 33,000 people are sure that MyVi is better then Savvy.
Proton…. start thinking.
proton! i think all of u not graduated yet. like rich father give money to there sun to enjoy.like our Tex give to u to do a fool!. if u don't no how to do a thing just give other to prove it! rather by maintained your people who not bring benefit for country n business!.do u think our money easy to get?!by buying a Malaysia product that we thing we should enjoy more on it!.
Well the pictures look good and promising. About the quality, maybe after TM left, Proton's Board will have more power to ensure only the qualified vendor can supply the parts, not because he is cronism with TM.
Let hope the quality issue that plague Proton be gone with TM and new blood will tuning up Proton for good.
Dear EDW, my father said that the bookings for the MYVI is getting much higher. Last time he sad at more than 60 thoousand units. Don't know how many more bookings in the future though.
Dear EDW, my father said that the bookings for the MYVI is getting much higher. Last time he sad at more than 60 thousand units. Don’t know how many more bookings in the future though.
Well, sorry for any words that has some of the letters missing.
Dear kody, Proton NEVER copycat since 20 years ago. Originally, before Proton owned Lotus, Proton was part of Mitsubishi. Malaysia's first national car, the SAGA, was based on the Mitsubishi Lancer Fiore. Now take a look at this one:
Proton Wira-Mitsubishi Lancer GSR EVO 1
Proton Satria-Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg '89
Proton Perdana-Mitsubishi Eterna '93
Proton Putra-Mitsubishi Mirage Asti
If you compare the Proton cars with the Mitsubishi car like the one above, you can say Proton does nothing but copycat. Do you know that another company like Proton, Acura, manufactured cars that looked like most of the Honda cars like the NSX? Answer? Acura was part of Honda.
Take the Acura RSX and the Honda Integra DC5 for example. The Honda Integra was the original design. Honda gave Acura the design and then Acura used the design and made some changes:
-Acura removed the rear spoiler
-Acura replaced the original sport rims by using the star-shaped one
-The front grille was made a little larger
-The front lights were made a little larger although it has the same design
That also happed to our Proton cars. Take a look at this one:
Fact: The engines most Proton cars used have the same code- 4G. 4G is Mitsubishi's engine code.
Fact: The 2.0 litre Perdana SEi used a 4G63 VR4 single turbo SOHC engine from the Mitsubishi Galant VR4 SOHC. Do you believe that? A stock VR4 in a Malaysian made car! No wonder my father can drive his Perdana SEi up to a maximum 220 kmh! Now the car already sold. I miss the engine more than the car, you know.
Fact: The 4G63 VR4 engine was among the best Mitsubishi engine for Proton Wira/Satria owners to use if they want to change their stock engine to a more powerful engine.
Do you know where I got the info about the VR4 and the similarities of Proton cars? From a car tuning magazine KERETA.
Want to know more, try this website:
www.majalahkereta.com.my
The next time before sending your comments, read those magazines. I'm not forcing you into car tuning, but it's better if you read those magazines since there were names of the cars that our national cars follow its similarities.
Well,I've got nothing to say.Great design,but sure, I hope Proton will place a small Malaysia Flag at it as the car is a national pride,because it is the Malaysia's first sport car.
yo!i agree with napss,u all juz know how to complaining and bla bla bla.look at putra and compare it with ur bloody TIBURON,i prefer putra.for ur information,tiburon is a failure.if they juz reproduce the great great putra,with more powerful engine,add something to its visual,surely proton will be out of LOTUS shadow.come on guys,its lucky coz we have proton,our own car,than never.think twice bfore open the big mouth
got the japanese style in front…
nice!!
it's 2010 now… still no proton ultimate…..
This car (when it's launched) it should use the song from Hybrid scores-Mr Smith.