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Local Iconic Cars of the 90s (Part 1)

September 6, 2011 by NYC
Filed under: Cool Cars

Proton Iswara

No doubt it is basically a first generation Saga with some exterior updates, the Iswara manages to be so distinctive that some people are unable to notice its roots. Many of them still ply the streets mostly in taxi guise complete with upgrades to consume both petrol and NGV. Unlike local versions for domestic use, those exported to Singapore and UK were fitted with fuel injectors and catalytic converters to meet Euro 1 emission standards. Various editions were introduced consisting of sedan, Aeroback, Executive and Limousine form. The final Saga LMST had a redesigned dashboard on top of the updated exterior.

Proton Wira

Launched back in 1993, the Wira is probably the only model from Proton that served the largest spectrum of users. Apart from being the usual favorite by families and fleet owners, it was also well received by a handful of motor sports enthusiast due to the vast availability of aftermarket upgrades. This is also how the term “Wirolution” came about by combining “Wira” and “Evolution” from the famous Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Of course the Wira was actually based on the Lancer instead of the 4-wheel drive skin deep twin. Initially offered with a carburetor-fed 1.3 or 1.5litre (later upgraded to MPI fuel system) and a 1.6litre 4G92P, they were later joined by a 1.8litre DOHC 4G93P and a 2.0litre diesel.

Proton Satria GTi

Officially the first ‘sports tuned’ Proton made for the public and tuned by the Lotus chassis-wizards. The GTi is still one of the best handling stock standard cars to continue being used in the sports arena. On the surface its roots were obvious from the flared wheel arches, twin-exhausts and Recaro bucket seats while the DOHC 1.8litre power plant was an excellent match to the superbly tweaked suspension.

Ford TX3 “Sampan”

Back in the 90s, this 2-door Ford Laser TX3 on often in the wish list of every boy racer. Typically because it is a 2-door hatchback and most importantly it had a DOHC 1.8litre engine under the hood. Figures stood at 123hp and 92kW which was rather impressive during that era. Nonetheless many found its handling rather ‘floaty’ at high speeds. This is one of the reasons on how “sampan” (or small boat in Malay) was associated even though some owners rectified this by fitting fatter tires.

Nissan Cefiro A31

Many of us remember the advertisement from the late 90s when a 3.0litre V6 from a Cefiro was used to power a light aircraft. But before the awards winning VQ-series engines were brought into light, the predecessor was known as a sports saloon, similar to the M5s from BMW. Initially powered by 2.0litre SOHC straight-6, this was later upgraded to a DOHC RB20DE used by the lower spec R32 Skyline. Today, demand for this comfortable executive cruiser is still rather high by drifters. This due to its front-mounted rear-driven layout as well as the ‘plug and play’ application for the power packed RB20DET and RB26DET engines.