I dream of owning a Proton Impian. There, I’ve said it. I’ll make my apologies and exit, but not before leaving my car enthusiast badge at reception. Still, it could be worse, I could have confessed to fancying a Waja. Sensibly, Proton UK decided against using the Malaysian name for the four-door saloon. Impian, in case you were wondering (you weren’t, were you?) means ‘dream come true’ in Malay.
I’ll tell anyone who listens (few do) that the Impian is far better than popular opinion would suggest. Launched in 2001, the Impian was the first Proton to be developed in-house, although the use of an old Mitsubishi 1.6-litre engine put the kibosh on attempts to label it ‘all-new’. A Renault-sourced 1.8-litre lump improved matters, before Proton added its own 1.6-litre CamPro engine in 2006. The CamPro (Cam Profiling) unit debuted in the GEN-2 in 2004 and was developed in partnership with Lotus. It means that it’s worth holding out for a later Proton Impian, as Bonnie Tyler nearly said.
Don’t be too heartbroken if you end up with an earlier model. Using its experience with the Proton Satria GTI hot hatch, Lotus achieved the impossible by making the Impian genuinely good to drive. ‘The chassis gets a gold star and a pat on the head from the headmaster,’ beamed Brett Fraser when reviewing the Impian for Car in 2001. ‘It isn’t sports car sharp, but the Impian has the sort of finesse and responsiveness that compares favourably (maybe even on equal terms) with the Ford Focus.’ As good as Richard Parry-Jones’ fabled family hatch? Take that, Impian doubters. I might be guilty of selecting the road test equivalent of The Purple Ones and leaving the Coconut Eclairs in the tin, but the fact remains: the Impian is surprisingly adept at blasting along a British B-road or dealing with the cobbles of Quality Street.
It’s worth remembering that the new car market looked very different two decades ago, so the Impian faced stiff competition. The likes of Skoda, Hyundai and Kia were still happy to fly the value flag, battling for budget car supremacy alongside Daewoo, Daihatsu and Perodua. You could even buy a Chrysler Neon. Spoiler alert: that’s another guilty pleasure. The Proton Impian was cheaper than an entry-level Vauxhall Vectra, and much, much sweeter to drive. The Vectra fought back with nicer door handles, but the Impian was ‘designed as a car for the 21st century’. Not my words, but the words of the Proton Impian brochure.
I could point to the Impian’s participation in the British Touring Car Championship as a reason to join me in its unofficial fan club. Maybe five years of service at the hands of Humberside Police would convince you. That said, according to the Hull Daily Mail, the Impian was the ‘butt of many jokes throughout the ranks and to the general public’. I fear I might be left standing alone on Impian Love Island with nothing but my Waja for company. Still, this is a guilty pleasure.
I’ve promised (threatened?) to buy an Impian. So far, my eBay saved search (yes, really) has failed to deliver the goods. If you’re selling a gold GSX with the optional boot spoiler, I’ll be at your door faster than the first-year deprecation on a misunderstood Malaysian saloon.
This article first appeared in issue 2 of Classic.Retro.Modern. magazine.
