I love learning about cars I didn’t know existed; it’s like being a kid again. johnh875 caught this Proton Jumbuck in traffic in Australia (presumably), and so I headed to google to find out a bit more about it.
It’s a little car-based ute, in the mold of the original VW Pickup/Caddy. Called the Arena in its Malaysian home market (and maybe others), for Australia it picked up a name that sounded a bit more…outback-ish. It’s got a 1.5 L four and FWD, natch.
The one that John shot has this bed canopy, which is actually a pretty nifty version for thta kind of thing. Looks like a coupe; a business coupe, at that. The Arena/Jumbuck went out of production in 2010, in part because it lacked key modern safety features like airbags or ABS. That resulted in a one-start rating in an Australian crash test. But it was cheap, selling for some $8000 (AUS). Now we know all there is to know about the Jumbuck. Or did I miss something?
The pic is suburban Melbourne.
The bed canopy model is an ugly hose-beast.
South East Melbourne. I put my money in that is either Clayton Rd, Blackburn Rd or Springvale Rd.
I haven’t seen a Jumbuck with that canopy. One picture is enough.
You’ve done your dough it was Stud Road (corner Ferntree Gully Rd)
Further down the road! I guessed because some of those buildings resemble the ones close to the streets I mentioned. That Oakleigh sign said a lot…
Awwww, man! No AWD? Although a less than 2 ltr engine has me frightened how bad the performance is.
Never having seen – let alone driven – one (though Wikipedia tells me they were sold here) I can’t speak for the Jumbuck’s performance… but bear in mind that outside the US engines rarely get much bigger than 2 ltr, and plenty of them still pull just fine thank you.
FWIW the engine in the Proton Persona (which the Jumbuck is based on) was about the only thing any of the reviews back when seemed to like besides the price – I’ve read it described as “peppy” and “perky” – suggesting it does OK in spite of its “small” (by US standards) displacement
These Protons are related to the early nineties Mitsubishi Colt / Lancer (5th gen from 1991 to 1996 according to wikipedia). It’s all I can add… The sedan version arrived here in the nineties, but they disappeared very quickly from the streets.
From a kids’ album, I know ( I think) that “jumbuck” is an aboriginal word for “cloud” that was applied to sheep after the anglos brought over a lot of them. Correct me if I’m wrong, please! 🙂
Spot on! I suppose it was a Wiggles album, I think they have now sold more than AC/DC…
Thanks for enlightening me,I always wondered what a jumbuck was.We had quite a bit of Australian TV in 60s Britain,Skippy and the Magic Boomerang mentioned jumbucks.(luckily Aussie cars were better than their TV shows)
So you started with a hatchback/wagon, in which you could presumably fold down the seats to haul large cargo. Then you cut off the top, so that you could haul larger, or dirty cargo, such as the ATV depicted, then you covered it back up? Or perhaps you just wanted a REALLY ugly car? We need to have ugly car week on Curbside Classic and this can be Exhibit A, it’s worse than the F-10, and you can put the F-10 and follow it up with yesterday’s Talbot thing.
I can see that being considered for the American market if gas gets any higher. Yeah it will be heavier and more expensive here but still could be put to good use as an alternative to the old Kei class trucks that are being used in rural areas. Shoot, the old Geo Trackers are still bein bought and sold around here at a premium because of farm usage.
I think we need another small inexpensive pickup or car based Ute. I worked at a Ford dealer in 1984 and we sold basic new Rangers for $5995. We sold truck loads of them. I know this is a different time but I still think there is a market.
Kind of cute without that odd-looking canopy. I wouldn’t mind having the yellow one, especially if it comes with the 4-wheeler… Two toys in one.
I live in Malaysia, and Proton cars are almost ubiquitous, although slowly falling out of favour to the other domestic manufacturer Perodua. Proton started by building Mitsubishi clones with small styling details to differentiate them, and then with some new variants such as a 5-door hatchback, and this pickup.
Pick ups are quite popular here, more so in rural areas naturally. However in 3 years of being in Malaysia I think I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen one of these in traffic.
The four door saloon version of this, the Proton Wira (meaning hero in Malay), is very popular as a taxi in Kuala Lumpur and other areas.
On a side note, cars face very high import duties here, local industry is protected, which has meant that there are a high number of older cars still around. (Lots of 70s and 80s Japanese cars, 60s Volvos, 70s Mercedes etc). Perhaps I’ll get around to writing a report one day on the more interesting things here.
I’d like to see that, and I bet I’m not the only one.
Perodua. *shudders* we got those here too…
Duncan do you still live in Malaysia I am trying to get one of those sports canopy for my jumbuck back here in Australia proton here do import them the only place I know that you can get won is a place called Batu Caves 4×4 are you able to help me get one sent back here.
pete
Yup NZ got Protons too – our 80s Protons had a “by Mitsubishi” badge on the bootlid and were sold by Mitsubishi (no stand alone Proton dealers here). The ones we got were just Malayasian-built Mitsi Mirages/Lancers; Australia got a much more complete model range (some with no Mitsi styling too) in more recent years than we did. Oh, and CC-effect: followed a white Jumbuck through town yesterday. First one I’ve seen in years. The CC-effect is spooky sometimes…
I like it! Even the styling except around the grille area.
Seems practical for suburban types. Put the hatch/bed-cover on for the winter or rainy season for bringing loads (albeit smaller ones) home under cover. Then, remove it.
this car are very rare in Malaysia. but the sedan and the hatchback models are popular here. Heck I owned the hatch version. Mine was the black one