In 1997, the Perdana was given a minor facelift, offering a chrome-plated grille, redesigned alloy rims, as well as additional colour options and upgraded interior trimmings.Ī bulletproof edition of the Proton Perdana was used in the shuttling of the Heads of Government during the 1998 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Kuala Lumpur. Nonetheless, Proton still captured 47% of the 2,000cc and above segment in its domestic market, with 9,000 units sold over the course of 14 months. The Perdana costed around RM85,000 at launch, but there were reports of relatively new second-hand Perdana units appreciating up to 12%, or RM95,000. Proton struggled to meet the overwhelming demand for the Perdana upon its January 1995 launch, with a waiting period of over six months. The Perdana also became Proton's first car to be offered with an anti-lock braking system (ABS) and cruise control, and among the earliest of Protons to be equipped with all-round power windows, power folding mirrors and a headlight levelling system. The Perdana sported an extremely low drag coefficient of just 0.29 C d, allowing for improved fuel efficiency and a top speed in excess of 200 km/h. It was initially offered with a four-speed automatic and a five-speed manual transmissions, but the manual variant was discontinued in 1996. The Perdana features Mitsubishi's 4G63 16-valve 2.0 litreI4multi-point fuel injected engine which is capable of producing 135 hp at 6000 rpm and 176 Nm of torque at 4750 rpm. It is based on the seventh generation Mitsubishi Eterna platform and shared a vast majority of parts with the JDM-spec Eterna, receiving only minor internal and external changes for the Malaysian market. The Perdana was the third car developed under Proton's extensive collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors. On 26 January 1995, the Proton Perdana became Malaysia's first car to compete alongside the established Perdana's rival such as Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Nissan Cefiro. Proton identified the need for a larger, more luxurious D-segment car after the launch of the B-segmentProton Saga and C-segmentProton Wira in 19 respectively. The Malaysian economy grew at an average of 8% each year between the late 1980s and the first half of the 1990s. About 80,000 first generation Proton Perdana were sold between 19. It is a badge engineeredseventh generation Mitsubishi Eterna, developed as the result of a collaboration between Proton and Mitsubishi Motors. The first generation Proton Perdana is a four-door mid-size familysaloon manufactured by Malaysian automobile producer Proton which launched on 26 January 1995.