KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 ― The saying “old is gold” couldn’t be more true for the iconic 1989 Proton Saga at a classic car festival in the UK.
A 32-year-old Proton Saga recently bagged the Concours de l’Ordinaire award at UK’s 2021 Hagerty Festival which celebrates the “unexceptional”.
The event, which happened at the Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire over the weekend, brought together 50 classic cars to compete for the top prize.
It saw the rare 1.5GL Black Knight Edition Saga beating out 49 other contestants to take the top spot.
Congratulations to the winner of the Concours de l’Ordinaire at the 2021 Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional, Jon Coupland! #FestivaloftheUnexceptional pic.twitter.com/MaPMxCfYt4
— Hagerty UK (@HagertyUK) July 31, 2021
According to the event organiser’s official website, the owner of the Proton Saga, Jon Coupland acquired the car in 2019 and now uses it sparingly to drive to car events.
The 30-year-old police officer said the car’s original owner garaged the car back in 1993 with less than 6,000km on the clock.
“It remained in the garage until 2017 when it was sold to its second owner before being driven for nearly a further 16,000km.”
Coupland said he has been a car enthusiast from a young age and this is his first time taking part in Hagerty’s Festival.
“I was over the moon to be accepted for the concours, so to have impressed the judges enough to have won the overall prize is beyond my wildest dreams.”
Coupland took the ultimate prize in the competitions ― a golden-coloured Hagerty trophy shaped like a mug of tea.
Splendid day out helping judge the @HagertyUK #FestivaloftheUnexceptional Congratulations to @joncoupland & his Councours de l’Ordinaire winning 1989 Proton Saga Black Knight KITT-inspired official special edition. Other Protons were also present… pic.twitter.com/GIS2XUovsP
— Jon Bentley (@jonbentley90) July 31, 2021
Manufactured in 1989, Proton only sold 201 units of the Black Knight Edition Saga in the UK.
A check on UK’s How Many Left website, which tracks the number of vehicles registered in the UK, showed that Coupland’s Proton Saga is the only one of its kind in existence.
Other marques that competed with Proton at the contest included, Peugeot, Volvo, Ford, Nissan, Austin, Toyota, Lancia, Saab and Volkswagen.
