It seems to be working, our plucky little car meet. It’s been slightly over four years since we first started having a regular series of “Cars & Coffee” styled meets over at Kiliney Kopitiam (local slang for coffeeshop) and how it has grown! From a handful of friends meeting up over eggs and toast, we now have a regular mix of eclectic automobiles showing up to put to rest the notion of how “boring” our local car culture is.
Sure, we’re no Japan and while our neighbouring countries up north will constantly outshine us when it comes to interesting car events, I’d like to think we’re doing not too bad, considering the number of financial penalties imposed on us for going down the auto otaku path.
Our July meet is our second meet of the year and even though it’s warm and balmy all year long in Sunny Singapore, I just thought it’d be fun to name them based on seasons. So here’s Cars & Kopi, the Summertime groove. From the words of a modern day lyrical poet, “Summer summer summertime… Time to sit back and unwind.”
Our jalop was sitting in good company!
I think this might represent the majority of Z4M’s left on our island!
Tasty Volk Racing G2 wheels.
One of the best looking modern day BMWs this side of a clownshoe if you asked me.
One of the rarest cars in the World. An M3 CRT. The real deal.
1 of 67 built.
1 of 5 Right-hand-drive cars Worldwide. This is an automotive unicorn. But is so low-key, most people will never know of its provenance.
Alpina B3 Touring. Another rare and special automobile, but maybe, not quite as limited in production. Still lovely though.
Can never go wrong with Softlines on a BMW.
Volk Racing G27s don’t look too bad on an F32 though.
Interesting choice of stripes along the sides on this 1M.
Lovely Dakar Yellow ’36.
No prizes for guessing which German marque stole the show!
Aufrecht Melcher Großaspach.
True VIP.
Complete with JDM Benz parking pole.
Geländewagen
And then, this sleek little roadster rolled in.
Ain’t she a beaut?
Patina.
Lovely.
Their Stuttgart neighbours were of course not far behind with a good showing from Porsche once again.
I wish i had a 996. Make mine a narrow body Carrera 2 with a stick shift please.
4.0 RS. Limited edition, and the largest engine offered in a street-legal 911. Yes, it’s apparently worth quite bit of money in collector circles.
Gorgeous GT3RS.
Interestingly, there were more Water-cooled 911s that morning instead of the usual Air-cooled crowd.
The Air-cooled cars that showed up were stunning though.
I know i’m biased, but i love that colour!
Air-cooled too! But a Flat-4 instead.
And here’s a GTI to round off the sizeable German contingent.
Of course this being Singapore, there are plenty of JDM fans. Here’s an STi S204. Intended for Japan only, some of them eventually made it out of the country, here’s 1 them, out of 600 built.
Great looking BRZ next to the M3.
And a slightly more done up 86 sibling.
Fiat Coupe, meet Toyota Sedan. For an Italian marque, the Fiat Coupe sure has a rather unimaginative (almost Germanic) name.
A small little hatchback might not raise any eyebrows in most places but over here, due to our rather unique tax structure, has meant that this Suzuki Ignis Sport might be the last of its kind left. Pity. For one reason or another, i find these Ignis Sports more interesting than their newer Swift Sport counterparts.
If you like to haul cargo quickly, here’s an STi Forester.
Next to the STi Forester was another fast hauler. An EVO 9 wagon. Even though these EVO wagons are rather rare, being yet another Japan Domestic Model with only 2500 built, there were a few in attendance at the meet! True blue Auto-Otaku mobiles don’t you think?
One EVO 9 Wagon.
Here’s another EVO 9 Wagon. Hiding behind the Mini. Not a very good choice of car to hide behind.
And another EVO 9 Wagon. This was probably the most extreme, riding on a static drop. I cannot begin to imagine the trouble that must bring on our local roads, with our massive speed bumps and uneven roads.
One shiny engine bay coming right up!
If you preferred your EVOs to come with a traditional boot.
The last of the JDM Type-Rs. The FD2R. This has future classic written all over it.
Hachimaru (80s-90s) heroes!
Great looking 4th generation Civic sitting on a rare set of Mugen MR5 wheels.
Nope, i still don’t have my purple S13.
Vintage Toyota Luxury Coupe, meet new Toyota(ish) Luxury Coupe.
One of the best exterior designs to come out of Japan in a long while.
Those Toyota Coupes might be cool, but i think this Datsun Bluebird took the JDM crown that morning.
Very clean. With just the right amount of erm… “patina”.
Quite a few British cars made it to the venue too! Here’s a gaggle of Lotus’s.
Ben, meet Jerry.
The early mini which we saw earlier.
Beautiful Triumph Spitfire.
A Jag Q-car. The XJR.
Of course, a number of sassy fiery Italians showed up as well!
Stunning 105. Alfa, please make another attainable FR Sports coupe for the masses!
Ciao Bella!
Ciao Bella Machina!
High emotion.
If you squint hard enough, there’s an Alfa 147 GTA in this picture. No idea what wheels are those but they look sweeeeeet~
Not many of these remain on our local shores too. Don’t even talk about the closed roof Breras.
Wagon Ferrari is best Ferrari! Bonus points for not wrapping it in some gaudy chrome/sparkly vinyl.
Superslow, meet Superfast.
I think this might have been the only Swede during the meet.
Bae-watch.
The lone Swede found a spot next to the only American. Getting some Back to the Future vibes here.
Signing off! Thank you, everyone, once again for coming! See you again in a few months!