Remember the Perodua Rusa? Launched in
1996 or two years after the first Kancil broke cover, the compact van was a
localised remake of the Daihatsu Hijet of the time, aimed at both commercial
and private owner usage, and accommodated between two to seven persons
depending on configuration. Here, graphic rendering expert Theophilus Chin has
turned his attention to what a present-day iteration might look like.
Swapping the name’s ‘s’ for a ‘z’ yields
an Aruz anagram, and though the modern SUV’s tall-riding, rear-wheel-drive
layout is shared with the Rusa, the latter is a van of a much more basic
offering. Much like his Kancil redesign, Theo’s rendition here is based on the
2020 Daihatsu Gran Max, which itself is the direct successor to the Hijet and
Zebra that the original Rusa was based on.
The front bumper gets resculpted to house
a pair of inserts and the grille is now a larger black panel with the Perodua
logo centralised, while the daylight opening of the Gran Max is retained for
passenger usage. The front and rear door handles have been refinished to match
the exterior bodywork colour, instead of black on the Gran Max.
Along the sides, the Gran Max to Ruza
rendition swaps steel wheels for a set of two-tone alloys from the Aruz, and a
set of contrasting trim panels along the lower halves of the front and rear
doors to break up the commercial van’s slab-sidedness.
The rear end of the Gran Max is largely
retained, save for an additional shark-fin antenna on the roof and tail lamps
with pointier top ends, while Theo has also relocated the tailgate key barrel
to the centre of the number plate lamp housing, from the original right-hand
side location.
Inside, the Gran Max dashboard architecture
is carried over, though Theo has added some creature comfort with a
multi-function infotainment unit. Here, wind-up windows are swapped for
electrically operated units as well, with window switches integrated into the
interior door handles. Elsewhere, it retains the Gran Max manual
air-conditioning rotary controls and dashboard-mounted gearlever.
