CarBrandLogos archive · Perodua · 2001

PeroduaKelisa

A Malaysian city car that a British television host declared the world's best.

Photo: Vauxford · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Perodua history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Perodua Kelisa, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The Kelisa arrived in 2001 to sit just above the Kancil, again built on Daihatsu underpinnings, with a three-cylinder engine of 850cc or one litre, a five-door hatchback body and a choice of manual or automatic gearboxes. It was slightly larger, better equipped and rather better looking than the car below it, and it sold well in Malaysia and in export markets including Britain, where its price undercut everything else on the market.

Perodua Kelisa , Kuala Lumpur · User:Two hundred percent. · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

Its unexpected fame came from Top Gear. Jeremy Clarkson tested it in 2003 and named it the best car in the world, on the argument that it did exactly what it claimed for almost no money, which was more than could be said for most cars. Malaysian officials made a great deal of the compliment, and the programme responded by destroying one on air, a sequence still shown whenever the model is mentioned.

Perodua Kelisa , Kuala Lumpur · User:Two hundred percent. · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

Production ran to 2007, when the Viva replaced both it and the Kancil. It is remembered fondly in Malaysia and, unusually for a car of its class, remembered at all outside it.

Perodua Kelisa , Kuala Lumpur · User:Two hundred percent. · CC BY-SA 3.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

2001–2007

Engine

Petrol engine

Body

5-door hatchback

Technical specification

The Kelisa, in detail.

Production: 2001–2007
Class: City car
Body style: 5-door hatchback
Engine: Petrol engine; Petrol: ; 0.8 L Daihatsu E-series engine#ED; ED-DE DOHC Straight-three engine; I3 ; 1.0 L Daihatsu E-series engine#EJ; EJ-DE DOHC I3
Transmission: 5-speed Manual transmission; manual ; 4-speed Automatic transmission; automatic
Assembly: Malaysia: Rawang, Selangor
Manufacturer: Perodua