Every Motorist's Nightmare

In this busy life of ours, while there are buses, trains and taxis, having a personal vehicle is an added advantage.   Cars have grown from the likes of the 'rich and famous' to the 'must have commodity' for most.  What has held me back from owning one has been the maintenance and repairs as the juncture where the headache lies.   Not to mention the skyrocketed fuel prices!


Bumps, potholes, drains and huge puddles - mix the entire lot together and you get an instant picture of typical city roads.  Add in the rain in peak hours goes a step ahead in creating a grid lock.   Just picture that scene.   Now add a punctured tyre and a stow to the scenario.  Isn't that the worst nightmare any motorist can have?


I was in my friend's car and while I was just commenting on how skillful she is in her driving, very ironically, that was when her car got jealous and decided to kneel down and have a rest!   And technically because she's skillful, she was able to pull over in time not to obstruct the traffic.  

I felt terrible as I had to leave my friend alone at the scene for a customer meeting.   Thank goodness we were nowhere near the worst scenario I just described above, but we are still talking about stranded in the middle of a motorway for crying out loud - pretty hazardous when I came to think about it now. 


I am still acclimating myself to the stress of the what-ifs and the fact that I didn't offer an extra pair of hands to direct traffic, help make the necessary calls, or simply just be there for her.  I would regret hugely if something unfortunate happened to her after I left.


Yet keeping everything aside, you drivers out there - please remember - servicing your car at regular intervals and taking the appropriate care help the car operate smoothly and function at its best.


And go look for an idiot-looking icon like this in your car now - if you didn't know what that is - it is the universal tyre pressure monitoring system.

And please pay attention when they decide to speak to you - there's reasons why they grumble.  

A Showcase of British Classic Cars

Apart from the bride and groom at the royal wedding (plus a few hideous head gears), I had my eyes on quite a fleet of classic British cars which picked up various people at the event. 

There were of course, not a Mercedes, BMW or Audi to be seen.   The oldest ride went to Prince Charles and wife Camilla where the pair of them rode to Westminster Abbey in the Queen's Rolls-Royce Phantom IV built in 1950.  This crown jewel, the oldest in the fleet of State cars, was built for then-Princess Elizabeth.  Rolls reportedly built only 18 in all.

 The bride and her father rode in the 1977 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI and we were told earlier that was given to the Queen by the British auto industry on her Silver (25th) Jubilee.

 The most unique rides were the pair of custom Bentleys that transported the Queen and Prince Philip and Princes William and Harry.  The first was presented to the Queen in 2002 on her Golden (50th) Jubilee and there are no others like these two. They were the Royals' first Bentleys.

 It's a comedown after these classics, but the rest of the couple's families had to make do with a Jaguar XJL (the bride's mom and brother).  Following them was what we have to presume were the security detail in their Range Rovers.

Wrapping up the day, Prince William borrowed his father's car to take his bride for a ride: The rare 1969 Aston Martin DB6 Volante MKII that the Queen gave Prince Charles on his 21st birthday. The Seychelles blue roadster is one of the rare 38 that were built with the high-performance 4.0-litre, 325 hp. straight six.

A sheer joy to sit and watch this fabulously gorgeous showcase of a few British's classics - which I think contributed to putting the "Great" in Great Britain.

Vanity Plates

Flashy cars are a common sight in Hong Kong, where we as a pedestrian witnesses a daily pageant of Mercedes, Rolls Royce, Porsche, Ferrari and Maserati everywhere we go. 

In a town that levies a 100% tax on luxury imported cars, not only have we got the world's highest concentration of Mercs per capita, car enthusiasts here can also pay sums in thousands of dollars to accessorise their vehicles with vanity plates if they want to. 

The owner of this car definitely wanted something even bolder than his orange Audi TT: a license plate that reads "MR BEAN."

What would be yours if you have a choice? 

Beautiful Monsters

Watching some cheetahs sprint on TV just then and scientists have measured these creatures accelerating from 0 to 65 mph in just 3 seconds!

Right in front of me lies this month's Fortune Magazine too - featuring the new super of supercars - Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 - the most expensive street legal car available on the market today.  

Engine: Quad-turbocharged W16
Power: 1,001 hp at 6,000 rpm
0-62 mph: 2.5 seconds
Max speed: 253 mph
Price: $1.4 million

It is hard to imagine someone would actually spend that much on a car instead of using it for something more productive.  Probably someone like Oracle's CEO, Mr. Larry Ellison - who is filthily wealthy enough to have a few of the world's most expensive cars placed in his garage - would pay for such a bespoke componentry. 

In my opinion though, Cheetah CAN embarrass million dollar supercars.

The Fundamental Front-Wheel-Drive

A friend of mine drives a Mini Classic Cooper (the exact model and colour that Mr. Bean has) and I told mother how much I wanted one too. I was fascinated to learn that my mom actually owned 2 Morris Mini before. 1 850cc Cooper and 1 Cooper S.

I am even more eager to get one now!

She told me from 1964 to 1967, the Mini was almost unbeatable, cultural icon and fashion statement of the 60s and the Britons proudly presented the industry with a British car manufacturing representation at long last. She told me how she drove to work each day with it, loved it like a baby and how the steering wheel could get absolutely scorching hot in the summer days. Even more interested to hear how my dad crushed the whole car resulted in total loss, and he could ended up hanging in a tree, uninjured.




As to the new BMW MINI, to me is technically unrelated to the old series. It has a cute fitting though 55cm longer, 30cm wider. The new design retains the classic transverse 4 cylinder, front-wheel-drive configuration and many stylistic elements, but it ain't the old Mini, not the Austin Mini, nor the Morris Mini.

Mother added we cannot live life without the fundamentals, and that is uphold integrity, to be honest with ourselves and to others. Just like the New Mini would not become a success should it not has a triumphal predecessor.


The fundamentals are the fundamentals, we cannot attempt to change it. The new BMW Mini might have lots of wicked computerised gadgets, but the good old mechanics are still the fundamentals that drives it.