Happy birthday, Proton Saga! The first
national car is 35 years old today, and Proton has released the
Proton Saga Anniversary Edition to mark the milestone. Internally called the
“Black Edition”, the Saga Anniversary Edition (AE) is based on the Saga Premium
AT range-topper, as with most special editions.
The car is in Quartz Black, which already
makes it stand out as black is not in the regular car’s colour list. It’s the
same black as that on cars Proton makes for the government, and the X70 Merdeka
Edition‘s roof.
The dark exterior is then accented with
yellow highlights on the grille and lip portion of the front bumper. The yellow
accents continue on the side skirts and wing mirror caps on the profile. At the
rear, the lowest point of the bumper gets a yellow strip to mirror the front
end. Why yellow? It’s a reference to Proton’s motorsports arm, R3.
Curiously, there’s no special “35th” logo
anywhere. Speaking of logos, the Proton tiger emblem here is the old one with
the shield and not the round one as seen on the CKD X70. The five-twin-spoke
15-inch alloys (185/55 tyres) are in the same design as the Saga Premium, but
here, they have a matte grey finish instead of the shiny look of the standard
car.
Inside, the yellow-on-black theme
continues. You can find the bright highlights on the instrument panel, the
bezel of the smartphone tray below the air con vents and on the tips of all
four AC vents as well. Also, the silver trim around the vents and the border of
the touchscreen head unit have been replaced with gloss black. There’s also a
new N95 cabin filter, which will be offered in the rest of the Proton range
from now.
There are no mechanical changes to the
A-segment sedan, which is powered by a 1.3 litre engine with 95 PS and 120 Nm
of torque at 4,000 rpm. The comprehensive facelift of August 2019 replaced the
old CVT with a Hyundai-sourced four-speed torque converter automatic. A
five-speed manual is available in the entry Standard trim level. With the 2020
sales tax exemption, the sedan is priced from RM 32,400 to RM 39,300 for the
Premium.
The good news is that this Saga
Anniversary Edition, which is limited to 1,100 units, is priced the same as the
Premium, which means this is yours for RM 39,300 on the road without insurance. However,
do note that the bodykit, which consists of a front chin spoiler and side
skirts (all three pieces house yellow stripes) is an option – you can add on
RM 2,035 for it (RM 315 off the normal price of RM 2,350). The bodykit can be
fitted to all 2019 Sagas, but you can only have it in black/yellow, at the
normal price.
The other new optional items included in
the RM 2,035/RM 2,350 package are door visors, “NVH Guard” insulation foam for
the bonnet and boot, and a plastic boot tray. All these are in the accessories
gallery below. Also below are pics of the Saga AE without the optional bodykit.
With the options, the Saga AE is priced at RM 41,335.
