The Proton Putra (

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

, "son" or "prince") is a

coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

produced by Malaysian automobile company

Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...

. Production of the Putra started in late 1996 and ended in 2001, but was briefly relaunched in limited numbers in 2004 for the domestic market. The reasoning for the relaunch is the clearing of the remaining stocks available at the factory.

Specifications

Engine

The Putra's power-plant is derived from a Mitsubishi 4G93P

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

engine, with the P representing Proton.

Export market

In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the Putra was sold as the Proton Coupé or Proton M21, but sales were not strong as it was considered very bland looking and being aesthetically similar to the older 1992-1995 Lancer series 5 or Mitsubishi Lancer CC as known to Australians. Additionally, it was considered dull to drive compared to more adventurous competitors like the Ford Puma and

Vauxhall Tigra Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

Design

Based on

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

's Fourth generation Mirage Asti Lancer, the Putra is a two-door coupé with front end styling similar to that of both the

Proton Wira The Proton Wira (Malay, "hero") is a car manufactured by Malaysian carmaker Proton from 1993 to 2009. It was produced in four-door saloon and five-door hatchback models, and is based on the Mitsubishi Lancer platform. History Development of ...

and the first generation

Proton Satria The Proton Satria is a hatchback automobile produced by Malaysian manufacturer Proton from 1994 to 2005 in the first generation model and from 2006 to 2015 in the Satria Replacement Model (SRM), known as the Proton Satria Neo. The name ''Satria'' ...

. The rear, however, features a more original design with only the taillights bearing similarities to those of the first generation Satria and fourth generation Lancer. The vehicle is almost an exact replica of the 1992-1995 4th-generation Lancer both aesthetically and mechanically. The vehicle has headlights and taillights that are interchangeable with those of the Lancer. The Putra, however, is equipped with a Mitsubishi DOHC 4G93 engine and comes with a slightly different front bumper and fenders that make the indicators less interchangeable with those on the Mitsubishi Lancer.

Interior

The Putra's standard equipment included Recaro N-Joy seats, a leather Momo Daytona 4 steering and leather Momo gear knob. However, during the relaunch units of the Putras in Malaysia, the interior Recaros, Momo steering and gear knob ware not included as standard. The car instead it was refitted with normal seats and steerings but was available with black interior.

References

External links

*
Proton Holdings Berhad
Proton vehicles Cars introduced in 1996 1990s cars Front-wheel-drive sports cars Sport compact cars