Would you believe it? It’s been 5 years since we first started having our series of regular automotive gatherings and 5 years since we started calling our little breakfast meets “Cars & Kopi”. And sometimes, even I find it hard to imagine it all started from a handful (you could literally count with one hand) of auto otakus meeting at a coffeeshop to chit chat about our old cars over coffee and toast.
One thing that had somewhat remained constant was that even though we (try to) meet up every quarter, the last meet of the year, usually in December, is always the quietest one since most people take the opportunity to travel over the year end holidays. So, with that in mind, and hoping to taper expectations, I imagined this last meet for the year to truly be a small and simple one.
Which was why I wasn’t too surprised when I arrived bright and early to an empty car park with only a cat to keep me company. Unfortunately said cat didn’t really appreciate being woken up and left me to my own shortly after this photo. Fortunately, I brought along our XC40 instead of the usual Jalop so I hoped back into the cool Swedish climate-controlled cabin.
It didn’t take much waiting before a crew of S-chassis Nissans buzzed into the compound and like clockwork, all the other cars started to make their presence felt, rolling in one after another. One could be mistaken that they all planned to show up together but that interestingly wasn’t the case. Did I ever mention that I’ve always wanted an S13 Sileighty? Midnight Purple please.
This S13 just had its Rocket Bunny kit fitted the week before and looked pretty cool. I haven’t seen one of these in Singapore before and it does take some determination to take a saw to the body panels of what is considered a rather rare car here.
These re-barrelled Nismo GT3s might be wide, but those arches are going to require more girth to fill them up. Something that according to the owner, is definitely in the works.
True to Japanese spirit, the JDM crew arrived right on time and started filling up the choice parking spots.
Never gets old.
When you need to haul cargo but EVO is life!
Never knew these Corollas had a following here. Isn’t it nice that there are people still holding onto and enjoying these cars?
And then these guys appeared, I for sure do not remember the last time I saw all 3 variants of the F355 rolling together. In fact, I don’t even remember the last time I saw an F355.
These really are automotive art. One of these best looking modern-day Ferraris ever penned.
I know the Berlinetta is the prettiest one but if I won the lottery, it has to be a GTS for me (manual please). Just so I can remove the roof for more of the glorious noises this era of Prancing horses make. Music to my ears. The F360 and F430s that followed never really captured the mechanical symphonies that emanated from these beauties.
Personally, I think older Ferraris have more a little bit more aesthetic charm too. Pre-458 of course.
Strength in diversity!
Type-R!
Another Civic but this one’s in full Spoon regalia sitting right next to an ER34 sedan. (The Civic’s lady driven too!)
Kind of sad when you think about how bland the current lineup of Nissans on sale are.
The one and only Evolution III in Singapore decked out in full Ralliart livery. Makes me think of Jackie Chan for some reason.
Speaking of Rally inspired liveries… These 2 need to have a photoshoot together.
Great news! The earliest AE86s have not hit the 35year old mark which means they are now eligible for import via the classic registration scheme. Not so great news? Prices of these cult cars have like all other desirable classics, shot up in recent years. That makes me sad.
Can’t beat the OG.
An air-cooled 911, a Mclaren MP4 and a pair of 86s. All side by side in perfect harmony. Nice.
And of course, coming in right behind, we have a GT3 RS and an M135i.
Another GT3, but this time, sans RS.
With my Jalop sitting at home unwashed, this lonely black 520i had to carry the E34 flag solo.
I really love what Aston Martin is doing with their latest design language. Really bringing forward the classic Aston proportions into the future.
If you preferred older Aston’s but can’t afford the real thing, there’s always Lego.
British, British, British, Bri…wait…
I’ll take the one on the left!
Cookie Cutters! You never hear cute nicknames for modern wheels anymore. Everything has to be “aggressive” nowadays.
‘Member when you could pick these up for reasonable money? I ‘member.
There was a time when elegance was part of the Mercedes’ SL design principle.
The Zombie-chaser. With most of these Defenders on a time-limited commercial vehicle license (It’s a Singapore thing), it will be a sad day when they all eventually have to be deregistered and exported.
Big tank, meet smaller but quicker tank.
To auto-otakus, them be rather meaningful numbers.
The heavy hitters. AMG, GTR, AMG, CSL. Not much more explanation needed.
Colour coordination done right!
Imagine waking up to these 3 puppies everyday.
Your neighbours might not like you very much though.
Perhaps, throw in an extensively (unlimited budget) restored R32 GTR for good measure?
Beautiful Peppermint 964 sitting next to a 986 Boxster which upon closer inspection…
…had a manual! Stick shifts might not be a rare occurrence in certain areas but over here, I think over 90% in Singapore of Boxsters are ordered with the snoozeboxes, so coming across a manual is rather rare!
Takes big guts to drive this little car.
Unfortunately at this point, even with cars still coming in, I had to say my goodbyes as I needed to be somewhere else that very morning. I never imagined our little meet up would one day become such an event that so many people can enjoy so to everyone reading this, to all those who took the trouble to drag yourselves out of bed stupid early on a weekend morning, and to all those who actually took the time and effort to wash your cars, THANK YOU!. THANK YOU for keeping the local automotive spirit alive, THANK YOU for showing others that loving cars doesn’t mean a bunch of people engaging in anti-social behaviour and THANK YOU for making it 4 meets in a row for 2018! We (and by “we”, I mean “you”) did it!
Let’s hope 2019 will shine as brightly as the Sun did during our meet but if it doesn’t, we will always have these memories to come back to.