15/07/2020
35 years ago during 9th July 1985, the first Proton Saga was launched by Proton. It is the first ever car that was produced by a Malaysian automotive company. Though the Proton Saga was rebadged from the C10 Mitsubishi Lancer Fiore and used many imported Japanese parts, it still featured several Malaysian revisions to differentiate it from being a complete Lancer Fiore rebadge.
One part that is very different from the Lancer Fiore would be the interior. The dashboard of the Saga is very different from the Lancer Fiore except for the export market Saga which uses the same Lancer Fiore dashboard. The dashboard of the Saga was designed by Proton themselves and was maintained throughout the years in various Saga revisions until it was changed in year 2003 on the Saga LMST.
The dashboard of my 1999 Saga Iswara 1.3 is basically the same as the original 1985 Saga. The differences would be the material colour, the faux wood trim, emblem on the steering and the metre cluster. This is a dashboard that was designed at least 35 years ago.
Today in year 2020, 35 years after the the first Proton Saga was released, I am still facing this dashboard daily as I drive this car to work. This iconic dashboard design is something that I have been very familiar with ever since I am born with my father driving a 1991 Proton Saga 1.5S Aeroback Megavalve until 1999. Just a little over a year later in 2000, he bought a Proton Saga Iswara 1.3 Aeroback but sold it off in 2004. Two years later in 2006, he bought this used 1999 Proton Saga Iswara 1.3 Aeroback and here I am today driving it.
My chronology with this dashboard can be summarised as:
1993 - 1999 = 1991 Saga 1.5S Aeroback Megavalve
2000 - 2004 = 2000 Saga Iswara 1.3 Aeroback
2006 - present = 1999 Saga Iswara 1.3 Aeroback
In my 27 years of life, the Saga's dashboard and interior isn't something that I felt old or bored by it. It is something that I am so used to see in my life, it feels as natural as being in my own house. Designed 35 years ago but still very practical and usable until today.