Not All Ripoffs Come From China….

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a Mitsubishi Evo… or not. What we’re actually looking at here is a Proton Jebat, Malaysia’s (copied) answer to the Evo X. And though Proton got the Evo X’s looks down to a T, they weren’t quite able to replicate the rally-bred Mitsu’s secret sauce performance-wise. Proton’s two-liter turbo four makes a mere 237 HP and 253 lb-ft compared to the Evo’s 291 HP and 300 lb-ft. Still, because the Inspira on which the Jebat is based is essentially a rebadged Lancer, there’s a chance that the Jebat has a Mitsu-developed AWD system under the skin… but Proton’s not saying. And the Lancer-alike Jebat isn’t the only rebadged Proton the Malaysian OEM has put out of late. A rebadged Lotus Europa was also shown at the recent Malaysian Auto Show as the Proton Lekir, powered by a 1.6 liter Proton engine. Yes, Virginia, countries other than China are dependent on rebadges and knock-offs for new product…



Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Buck-O Buck-O on Dec 08, 2010

    Ugh...its not a "rip off" or a "copy". Mitsubishi has sold their older toolings to Proton for years. And Proton have successfully rallied the Evolution under the Proton name as the Wira (Evo-III) and the Pert (Evo V,VI, and VII) in the Asia Pacific and Malaysian Rally Championships. This is simply a reskinned Ralli-Art Lancer. Calling this a "copy" is a bit of an insult to Proton and Mitsubishi.

  • Nick Nick on Dec 08, 2010

    If you took away the black crap and painted the car a nice colour the coupe would be a significant step up from the Eclipse sold her, at least in appearance.

  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
  • EBFlex The best gift would have been a huge bonfire of all the fak mustangs in inventory and shutting down the factory that makes them.Heck, nobody would even have to risk life and limb starting the fire, just park em close together and wait for the super environmentally friendly EV fire to commence.
  • Varezhka Of all the countries to complain about WTO rules violation, especially that related to battery business…
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