Street photos of Penang traffic, comprising primarily of carspotting.
My photos from the two trips made to Penang in September, just another dump of photos that for you, are probably just some landmark photos and justification (or otherwise lol) to have a holiday there.
Hmm, I should have taken more snapshots of less car stuff like last time.. I will try to amend since. Sorry!
This Nissan 140Y coupe as seen below. Never seen one before, a very interesting model.
While this trio of Perodua Kembaras sit here for as long as I can rememeber, there sits a new offering from Proton. The e.MAS 7 is a Proton-badged Geely EX5. The e.MAS name kind of stems from the Proton EMAS lineup of concepts that never came to fruition, but I guess it found its way into the Geely rebadge. As for Proton’s direct involvement with the EX5 apart from a rebadge and saying they’re back, especially in Singapore.. I’m not sure..
Surprising to see Proton Arenas sell for RM20-30k. Some, which is not this judging by the workhorse condition, have Mitsubishi Lancer GSR powertrains swapped in. The most I’ve seen was an Lancer Evolution dashboard stuffed inside.
Toyota FJ Cruisers are also somewhat easy to find in the island. I’m sure this is not the first one posted here.
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| Honda Civic EK hatchback, which I remember having the EK4 confetti front seats |
While Singapore is clinging on to the last few units of gas guzzling memories that is the iconic 2000s Hyundai Matrix, Malaysia is still hosting many of them, courtesy of the Inokom variants and no COE.
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| More on the sub article about this Yaris: MY Archives: Toyota GR Yaris |
Honda Civics are also easy to find. I mean, The Honda scene in Malaysia and also Thailand (honorable mention) have ballistic car scenes compared to Singapore (since we’re being squeezed out actively while these two countries live with it and/or support it).
And there are also just a big of an influx of Chinese manufacturers jumping into the Malaysia market. Dongfeng is making its rounds with cars like the Box, like Singapore currently has.
And another compact saloon, the Smart Fortwo. I find it interesting that the current Smart is a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Geely. Whether they were good enough or not to have become a venture project with the Chinese car industry.. what I know is they are selling cars, so maybe from a business side of things, they aren’t doing too bad.
A slightly more rarer non-rare car, the second generation Proton Perdana. Gone through three companies with the nameplate, the original Perdana was a rebadged Mitsubishi Eterna. This second generation car is a rebadged Honda Accord, and has the option of the Honda K24 engine, which is probably why the aftermarket i-VTEC badge is there. Only 7420 units of this generation of Perdana was produced according to its wiki page, so these seem to be rare.
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| One of the many MK5 Toyota Supras in Penang |
This duo of modern classics that may or may not have been affiliated. Though, as much as they are uncommon, there are plenty to be seen in Penang.
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| More about these cars: MY Archives: Toyota Supra (MK5) & Honda Civic Type R (FK8) |
There certainly is much old-school flavor to have of the place, although some food flavors are definitely new. I was having a MIXUE ice cream when I took this photo.
While the buildings aren’t developed, the cars certainly are..
Not to mention neighbours too. Penang is a good three-way location to find registrations from three companies. Of course, Malaysia, and then Thailand and Singapore. The latter is harder to find but every now and then, someone will roadtrip all the way up here. I hope to do so soon.
Oh, this shop is also cool.
Clothing is designer pricing, so there is that. I do appreciate the old tech and parts they use. Their Instagram and location details are available here.
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Driving a convertible in Penang is brave. I cannot vouch for very good weather, or good traffic.
Slightly interesting find (personally) was this Ford Laser 1.6. Its in very rough condition and it is not a 3-door TX3, but the white on white is a good combination. This was parked outside of a workshop and most probably has become a donor car or a long-standing project that may not be going anywhere anytime soon.
The beauty with Penang (and Malaysia as a whole) is the accessibility of legacy models. This BMW E46 definitely isn’t affiliated with any car groups, yet there are many like these still roaming around, driven by both enthusiasts and non.
Not to mention that down the street where the E46 sat, was these classic Volvos and a Honda Accord. These are parked in front of a Volvo specialist workshop.
Some showrooms in Penang, more specifically in Gurney Paragon Mall. Will be continued in the subpost with these for the NewCar series of things.
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| Have a read here: NewCar: Penang Lexus & Denza showrooms |
I think this mazda RX-8 has been here for more than a few months already. As I was told by my workshop, this guy had blown his engine three times.
Since the influx of Chinese EVs on Singapore roads and my own life, I guess it had to be one for the only Singaporean car I’d see in September.
Maybe one left of this generation of Honda City in Singapore, and a handful of these in Penang!
Having went back a second time in the month, there’s a few more extra bits for the second time that I come here in the month.
Annoyingly I had my battery stuck inside my camera and had to go to a shop to get it pried out. As one of my friend groups would refer to it: pillow :333333
Particularly good spot was a Subaru Impreza WRX STi Type-RA. I don’t remember or recall seeing a roof scoop, so it might not be a real Type-RA. Nevertheless, a GC8 in current times? Splendid!
Not to mention this Nissan 350Z and BMW E46 touring. The touring caught me completely off-guard with the only indicator I saw being the roof racks. It didn’t help it was an older woman casually driving this enthusiast dream too!
Well, that’s about it. I’ll update more on more interesting cars (that I have more photos for), alongside our own cars. Thanks for reading through, and please visit Penang. Its alright here.
~Efini
Read more: Penang: Nosing around in June
