This is for one for those days where you thought things couldn't get any weirder but it does. My friend Firdaus has friends who search the classifieds for unique used cars to lust after. But sometimes they come across cars that you have no idea why they are what they are in the first place. This is one of them - a Proton Saga Iswara that wants to be a Tofu transport vehicle, the Toyota 'Hatchiroku' or 86.



There are other Toyotas that their owners think that they are real AE86s instead of old Toyota Corolla Liftbacks or four door ones from before the AE86 or the AE101 front wheel drive variants that came after the Ae86. You can forgive their lofty ambitions as these are still Toyotas that have become Panda Cars or Tofu wagons. This beats 'em all as it is not a Toyota, has five doors (with the rear two sealed up if you look properly) and was not made in the 1980s but in 1997. Amazing isn't it?

Take a look at the 'for sale' photos, you see the rear end carefully hidden among some bushes or the car is photographed low and close up so that the actual shape cannot be seen. Those that have had some pills, alcohol or a combination of both will swear that it really is a Toyota Levin / Sprinter Trueno and may be compelled to steal (as people on a combo of drugs and alcohol would rather spend their money on drug and alcohol instead of this) some money to buy it off the current owner.

Or the owner himself could be on a cocktail himself. You never know as to achieve such brilliance one must have been over to 'the other side', a place where everything can be made into an AE86, or a Honda Prelude into a Ferrari Testarossa, a Ford Telestar into a Nissan Skyline GTR (Yes, I've seen 'em all). And so you have it, a 1997 Proton Iswara Aeroback 1.3 that has a full Panda paintjob, sealed rear doors and some Trueno parts grafted onto its nose. Oh, don't forget the 'Fujiwara Tofu Shop (Self Service)' sticker on the side of the car too. It is all the 'Toyota AE86' that you never ever wanted. Even if your life depended on it. According to the seller the car is 'Autoshow' ready. Right.......

Anyway, for those who are still interested, you can go here for the original advert (while its still online). 

If you are lazy, here is the original posting below. Note that the seller says his garage is full and his dad wants him to sell the car. I also wonder whether the car could clear PUSPAKOM inspection with this much mods to the car. He is also upgrading to a Honda CRZ. I do hope that the CRZ will stay a CRZ instead of suddenly morphing into a Peugeot RCZ.

 Oh, here is an original unmolested AE80 series coupe for your viewing pleasure and for you to compare.

Right now I am watching Ultraman on NTV7, having a nice cuppa tea whilst typing this. The Ultraman episode on TV must be quite new (circa 2008) as cell phones, graphics seem up to date. Ultraman still wears a jumpsuit and still has that blinker on his chest. Some things stay the same. Much like the Nissan Sentra 'Sport' sold over here in Malaysia (see above). Soldiering on since 2000.

Last I checked we are now coming to the middle of the second decade of the 2000s and if you checked the Nissan Malaysia website today, you'd notice that they're still selling a car which was first sold in the year 2000. The Nissan Sentra is still on sale over here in Malaysia!!!! If this were a Proton, Malaysians would say that the local car company is trying to kill us all by selling outdated cars, take our money by not giving us any options, continue to make profit by selling us outdated cars and other stuff. But here we have Nissan still giving us the same piece of dull family transport year after year after year. Of course, some may say that you don't see any on the road and that this is just Nissan wanting to clear stock.



But, I doubt they're serious in doing so. They just want to take your money as there is no word of any huge discounts on the website if you buy the ancient chariot. Nissan Malaysia must have a huge stockpile of Sentras lying around. This is much like the case of the Nissan Sunny B11 of 1981 which was sold in Malaysia from 1983 to 1996. Thirteen years. It looks like the Sentra (which was first sold here sometime in 2001 if I am not mistaken) has overtaken this record.

I can only think of one reason why anyone would buy a Nissan Sentra in 2014. The reason is that if you feel that you are one that does not want anything to do with technology invented since 2005 I would suggest you head to the nearest Nissan showroom and ask them to sell you one. But why on earth would you choose a brand new Nissan Sentra? If you wanted less technology just go ahead and buy a second hand Mercedes Benz w124 from 1995. It is built like a tank and will even outlast a 2014 Sentra. How about another Nissan? A second hand Cefiro from the year 2000 is much cheaper and more comfortable.

I have sat in a friend's Sentra when he bought it new it 2004 and it is a decent small family car. Aside from that there is nothing good to say about it. Does its job well and is as bland as a dish with no spices, sugar or salt. Now if Proton were selling the Wira to this day people would be screaming murder. Just because you don't see many Sentras around why aren't you screaming murder too? I suppose you people don't have to. Just let me do the screaming in here.

Nissan, still selling the Sentra after all these years. And two generations have passed since the G10/N16 Sentra pictured herein. Oh, and whilst it has been two generations of Bluebird Slyphy has passed, we're still getting the G11 (a 2.0liter sedan still sold with DRUM BRAKES) and NOT the current G12 series which Singapore has gotten since early last year. Nissan, you're KILLING us here. Really.

A wikipedia note:  Nissan launched the G10 or N16 series Bluebird Sylphy in 2000 as replacement in the Japanese market for the Nissan Pulsar (N15). The model code of "G10" used in Japan differed from most other markets which retained the legacy N-series (N16) naming scheme inherited from the Pulsar. The change in name from Pulsar to Bluebird Slyphy in Japan came about as Nissan was about to phase out the long-running Bluebird, and this kept the old name alive. Export markets received this same vehicle under a myriad of alternative names: Almera in Europe and Brunei; Pulsar in Australasia; Sentra in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan; plus Sunny in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and the Middle East.

Some of them Malaysian car salesmen really need help folks. And there has to be some education towards people who somehow think that a PERODUA MVYI is a 'sports car' as it came up on one of my searches for 'sports car'.

Either they do not know what a sports car actually is (think Mazda MX-5 or a Lotus Elise) OR they think super highly of their Malaysian made compact car.
Then again, when I scrolled further down after the Peugeot RCZ, an actual sports car and some Golf GTi (which STILL isn't a sports car but a hot hatchback) a Proton Waja with a bodykit came up. No. NO. NO. NO. NO. A sporty bodykit does not make the shopping trolley a sports car okay. In fact, nearly everything on the list wasn't a 'sports car'. Sigh.

And so, this week's lesson is the definition of 'Sports Car' - A sports car (sportscar or sport car) is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for spirited performance and nimble handling. Sports cars may be spartan or luxurious but high maneuverability and minimum weight are requisite. 

Now do you guys feel even more educated than before? Will you help us save Malaysians from thinking that throwing in a set of sports rims or a bodykit will make their shopping trolleys into sports cars? I hope you will do so.

Remember folks, education is important. And a Myvi isn't a sports car....This fact is more important.

Note the marketing blurb below and check out the picture of the CM8.

"Two Chana Era models – CV6 and CM8 – made their debut in the Malaysian market yesterday. The vehicles, distributed by Changan Berjaya Auto Sdn Bhd, have a combination of Italian designs, Japanese technology and German engineering and come with an affordable price tag."

It doesn't look so bad from the side view doesn't it?But what I can tell you is that this is what the marketing team wants you to think. Italian design; think Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo. German Engineering; think Porsche, Mercedes, Audi. Japanese Technology, Honda, Toyota. Wow! This must be one fantastic mini MPV. So much so you wonder why you haven't seen anyone driving one of these 'fabulous' minivans around KL since its official launch sometime in January 2009. The reason is the shape of the really ugly awkward overall shape of the vehicle. It's purely horrible.

Even this picture of it is flattering. The next one is from Motor Trader. The photo wasn't touched up in anyway by yours truly. It really is a tall skinny, unbalanced, unproportionate looking vehicle. Now which Italian design house drew this? Giugiaro? Bertone? Pinninfarina? It must be the  drunk janitor at the design house who scribbled a drawing of a car and somehow convinced the Chinese that he was a car designer. Or that the Italians were conning the Chinese out of their Yuan so that they can have a nice bonus for almost no work done.

I'd rather get the flu than test drive one of these.