THE Proton PERT Evo 6 is an iconic car many Malaysians will recognise from the golden days of Proton’s involvement in international rallies.
Since then, the image of the green and white liveried rally car has gradually faded from public memory.
Not many know that a British man bought the historic racing car on Ebay, meticulously restored it and now drives it in demonstration rallies around the United Kingdom.
THE MISSING LINK TO A GOLDEN ERA
Two months ago, local motoring enthusiasts were startled upon the news on the winding down of R3, Proton’s motorsport division.
It coincided with the update on the confirmation of Proton-Geely partnership signed a few days earlier, which marked Geely’s acquisition of a 49.9 per cent stake in the national carmaker.
Despite Proton’s struggle in capturing the sales percentage in its home market prior to the agreement, R3 (Race, Rally, Research) has been very competitive in the local racing series primarily.
Using race-prepped cars like the Proton Iriz R3 MTC and the Satria Neo S2000, it showcased to be a very strong and respectable contender among other factory and privateer racing teams in racing series like the Malaysian Touring Car (MTC), the Sepang 1000km (S1k) and the Malaysian Rally Championship.
Previously, Proton also had the Waja that competed in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and Petronas/Malaysia Airlines Proton PERT that won the 2002 FIA World Rally Championship Production Cup.
Proton PERT might ring a bell to some hardcore rally enthusiasts as the image of the car driven by rally legend Karamjit Singh and Allen Oh flashes as it slides and scrambles to victory.
To our surprise, the car is still driven the way it was designed for, wearing a fresh, original design livery!
RESURRECTING PROTON PERT
We managed to get in touch with Gareth Lay, who together with his father John, today rallies the Proton PERT alongside many other rally greats that include the former Subaru of Colin McRae and even the Telefonica Movistar Ford Focus of Carlos Sainz.
The car is now privately-owned by Shropshire farmer John Lay who participates in rally shows as well as Group B rallies, one of the three groups for historic and special rally cars.
“We now drive in three or four demonstration rallies around the UK - usually running ahead of the main rally event such as the WRC Great Britain,” said Gareth.
The Proton PERT Evo 6 was originally bought by Gareth and his father from eBay in 2015.
“The previous owner did not really know the history behind the car and we purchased it with a ‘normal’ price for a typical Group N-spec Evo 6,” he added.
The car had been driven for a series of single- and multi-venue tarmacadam events across England and Ireland before taking its new home in Shropshire.
Knowing the car was built and run by Mellors Elliott Motorsport - a team with experience in building and preparing race cars - John and Gareth reached Ollie Mellors who then supplied them with the original, mint fresh 2002 works graphics.
The interior remained unchanged, complete with dual fuel pumps, flocked dash and Mellors Elliott-developed Dynamis Suspension. It even has its original 2002 world championship scrutineering pass certificate!
John himself is no stranger to success, having the Group N champion of the Welsh National Rally Championship title under his belt when he was driving a Ford Escort Cosworth before acquiring his dream car, the genuine Computervision Metro 6R4.
Gareth said: “The success is what makes the Proton PERT so special. Not only did it take victory in the 2002 Production WRC, but it also took the Asia Pacific honours, with victory in New Caledonia and Thailand.”
“Its most significant success was being a top 10 finisher on the extreme Safari Rally, and top 20 placing in the Cyprus Rally and 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland, piloted by Malaysian Karamjit Singh,” he explained.
Apart from the host of global rally wins, the Proton PERT gets many invites because the car is currently driven by John (who won multiple championships) and was developed by a team who run other Protons like the Satria Neo S2000 and the Iriz R5.
Gareth and John love doing demo rallies with the Proton PERT as they can drive alongside legendary machines like the Metro 6R4 and Colin McRae’s Subaru Impreza.
“We now love the car because it is fast, reliable, has a great history and looks good, and we love all the attention it gets,” he said.
With Proton Iriz R5 recently taking the rally debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2017, it would be a blast if we can get Karamjit Singh to drive the Proton PERT at the next edition’s prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed.