Old Singapore Quiz (24) - Old Car - Answers

Hmm... what was my last blog post about? Sorry, it was so long ago that this old memory of mine could hardly remember.

Oh yes. It was about an old car quiz. Now the answers.

Answers to Quiz Questions:

Q1. What is the make and model of this car?

A1. Ford Y8. The emblem "Y8" on the following photo says it all.

Q2. When was this car manufactured?

A2. 1932 to 1937.

The car was probably imported from the United States as the metal holder for the number plate at the back (blacked out in the above photo) says "FLORIDA - LAND OF SUNSHINE".

Only Joshua Ng got part of the answer to the first question correct, i.e. it is a Ford. And he did it on 13 Mar 2011. Well done, Joshua.

Anonymous and YG both on 15 Mar 2011 gave the year 1937 which is in the correct range.

R. Burnett Baker's answer 1934 is also in the right range.

You can refer to more details on this Wikipedia link. The following passage is extracted from the link:

"For the first 14 months the original model with a short radiator grille was produced, this is known as the "short rad". After this in October 1933 the "long rad" model, with its longer radiator grille and front bumper with the characteristic dip was produced. By gradually improving production efficiency and by simplifying the body design the cost of a "Popular" Model Y was reduced to £100, making it the cheapest true 4-seater saloon ever, although most customers were persuaded to pay the extra needed for a less austere version."

The "front bumper dip" manifests itself as a slight "V" shape in the front bumper. (It is an original characteristic of the car and is certainly not caused by an accident or a careless knock.) You can see the "front bumper dip" in the photos of the car below:

Wikipedia photo of the Ford Y

Just imagine, the car is only powered by a 933 cc, 8 hp engine. Perhaps, the best part is that it costs only £100 in the 1930s, which is probably less than the equivalent of S$1,000 even when the pound is at its strongest. No such nonsense as COE (Certificate Of Entitlement) some more. Moreover, the price of petrol in those days was less than 20 old pence an imperial gallon. Based on the conversion rate of 1 imperial gallon = 4.55 litres and 240 old pence = £1, the price of petrol then was probably only a few cents per litre!

Oh, how I wish I was living in the 1930s! Do you?

Old Singapore Quiz (24) - Old Car

Today, I was at an old part of Singapore. To be precise, I was walking along Dickson Road.

Dickson Road - The tower in the centre of the photo is the Church of the True Light

Most older Singaporeans know that this area has many shops that sell second-hand goods. It may be a misnomer to call them second-hand goods for some of the goods might have passed through many hands. Some of these "multiple-hand goods" are even sold from lorries by enterprising business people.

 

Suddenly, something old and deliciously chocolaty caught my eyes. No, it was not some mouldy Valentine's Day chocolates which were rejected by a disinterested lover. Neither was it for sale...

It was a chocolate car!

The car did not have a classic number plate but a new one that starts with "SJS". (I am quite sure that it would have easily qualified to be registered as a classic car as the rule only requires that the car be at least 35 years old. This car is definitely way, way older than that.)

The car is probably not a vintage that is first registered here but rather, one that is imported from elsewhere. Why do I say so? You see, the car is a "left-hand drive" while we all know that cars registered in Singapore are "right-hand drives".

And it was probably driven by someone who had just migrated here. Why? Because he left all the windows down (and windscreen up - something which is impossible to do for modern-day cars). I didn't check if the doors were locked though - they probably weren't. Although Singapore is generally considered a safe place with a low crime rate, the authorities do not recommend such a cavalier attitude.

Or maybe, the car owner thinks that any potential car thief will have a real problem disposing of the car? Anyway, who would want to buy a stolen car which turns head at every street corner? To add to the buyer's woes, he would likely also find it difficult to find the required spare parts to maintain the car in good running condition.

Quiz Questions

1. What is the make and model of this car?

2. When was this car manufactured?

Singapore's First Topless Car Wash

Today's New Paper headlines caught my eyes:

"S'PORE'S FIRST TOPLESS CAR WASH"

What? In Singapore? At first I thought it meant a car wash specially dedicated to washing convertibles otherwise known as "topless cars":



But no, it really meant topless the way lecherous men know it:



Let's hope that it is only a joke like this one:

The Idiosyncrasies Of My Car's Fuel Gauge

A strange thing happened to my car's fuel gauge the other day. I topped up about 11 litres of fuel to full tank. Usually after a full top-up, the fuel gauge would show 8 bars, i.e. fuel tank full, after I restarted my car. However that day, it showed only 7 bars.

Not knowing whether it was my fuel gauge's fault or the petrol station trying to cheat me, I topped up the tank again the next day. This time, I paid $10.00 (about 7 litres of fuel) before the tank was full. To my great surprise, immediately after I started my car, the fuel gauge showed only 6 bars this time!

I began to think that if the number of bars displayed in the fuel gauge kept dropping every time I topped up the tank, soon my fuel gauge would show less than "3/4 tank filled" even when it was actually full. Alamak! Like that how to go Malaysia?

Lucky for me, I am not a regular visitor to Malaysia so I have no reason be worried. In fact, I have not visited Malaysia for many years be it for cheap food, cheap petrol, cheap groceries, cheap cigarettes, cheap haircuts, cheap naughty massages or pirated DVDs. I don't see the need to shop in Malaysia because whatever I wanted, I could get it in Singapore. (Yes, even naughty massages and pirated DVDs although they may not be as cheap as those in Malaysia.)

But perhaps what is even more fortunate is that the fuel gauge is now back to normal. Sigh, I guess that's part and parcel of driving a cheap "non-luxury class" continental car. What I didn't realise until now is that how a seemingly innocuous problem with a fuel gauge could affect something like one's visit to Malaysia.

Tofu Snafu

In the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, you could choose to have a personalised or vanity plate for your car:


Here in Singapore, there is no such option. However, you could bid for a car number plate. Before a series of numbers is released, the Land Transport Authority would invite vehicle owners to bid for the numbers they are interested in. The minimum bid is S$1,000/-. Numbers such as "8", "88", "888" and "8888" which are auspicious to the Chinese because the figure "8" sounds like "fa" (发 prosperity) in Chinese, are expensive. Unlike other commodities where more in quantity means that you pay more, for bidded numbers, typically the less the number of digits, the more expensive the number. Hence a single digit "8" would cost much more than "8888" which already may be worth more than S$10,000/-.

A long time ago, I saw a Mercedes Benz with a nice number plate - "EA5Y". The owner of the vehicle had probably asked for the characters to be placed close together so that it read like the word "EASY". Very clever.

I have never bidded for a number before because I don't feel I have a need for one. An extraordinary number won't look good on an ordinary car anyway. Bidded numbers usually go with luxury and flashy drivers cars. Maybe there is a need to impress upon other people that the owners are successful in life. To each his own. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against people bidding for a car number. After all, they help to contribute to our government's coffers and we should be thankful that they help lighten our tax burden.

For me, I am contented with my allocated number plate. I did once fantasise about having a cheeky number plate though but was promptly admonished for having such a dirty thought.

I was therefore rather amused to read about this piece of news:

April 9, 2009

Denver — One Colorado woman’s love for tofu has been judged X-rated by state officials.

Kelly Coffman-Lee wanted to tell the world about her fondness for bean curd by picking certain letters for her SUV’s license plate.

Her suggestion for the plate: “ILVTOFU.”

But the Division of Motor Vehicles blocked her plan because they thought the combination of letters could be interpreted as profane.

Says Department of Revenue spokesman Mark Couch: “We don’t allow ‘FU’ because some people could read that as street language for sex.”

Officials meet periodically to ensure state plates stay free of letters that abbreviate gang slang, drug terms or obscene phrases.

The 38-year-old Coffman-Lee says that tofu is a staple of her family’s diet because they are vegan and that the DMV misinterpreted her message.

Am I Superstitious Or What?

I am usually not superstitious. The lunar seventh month doesn't end till 30 August. As you probably know, this month is also known as Hungry Ghost Festival. The traditional Chinese believe that it is a period when spirits from the netherworld roam the earth. Whether you believe it or not, I think it is better not to mess around with such things. It is not advisable to do anything that might antagonise the spirits.

Recently one of my bicycles parked below my block had a flat tyre because of a leak. I am not blaming the spirits for it but this kind of thing seems to happen mysteriously every now and then. Whenever it happens, I always go to an old bicycle shop in Joo Chiat Road to change an inner tube. I have patronised this shop since a few decades ago. The shop itself must have been existence for more than half a century, i.e. older than me.


This man was a young boy when I first patronised the shop. Now we are both old men, although I think he's got more white hair than me, hehe.

As the shop location is about 5 km away from my block, I mounted the bicycle on a rack which was hooked on to the back of my car, like this:


My wife came along. On reaching an URA open-air car park near the shop, my wife alighted first. When I was reversing the car into one of the empty lots, my wife gestured to me not to park in the lot. The reason? There were some burnt-out joss sticks and candles at the back end of the lot:


Not wanting to take any chances, and respecting my wife's good spirit (pun intended) I moved to another lot. Just as I was almost done reversing slowly into the lot, I heard a loud bang. I was stunned for a moment as I didn't know what had happened. Then reality hit me - I realised that my rear windscreen was shattered!


Alamak! I had reversed into a pillar which suddenly jumped out into my path! :p The pillar pressed against the bicycle rack which was resting on my car's rear windscreen. The windscreen simply imploded.

Some glass splinters even flew to the front seating areas. My wife and I had a hard time cleaning up the glass splinters:


There were so many of them. At one point, I thought they looked like diamonds:


If they were, I would have been very rich indeed!

And who says that shattered tempered glass won't cut?


So I have instantly changed my car into some kind of convertible which is perhaps the only kind that I can afford:


I quickly checked my car's insurance policy. Phew, luckily all the windscreens are covered under the policy. I only have to pay an extra S$53.50 to have the privilege re-instated when I next renew my policy.

But one question - I avoided the joss sticks and candles - so why did this accident still happen? Hmm... it must have been due to my own carelessness and bad luck, not my wife's good spirit.

Last Monday, I made an appointment to have the windscreen replaced at the agent. It would cost the insurance company about S$1,400 - $900 for the windscreen and $500 for the labour to replace it. I took leave for that day. I had a foldable bicycle in the boot of my car which I used to roam around town while the workshop was replacing the windscreen. I went to the River Valley area and took this photo of Gianurn Building which used to be C K Tang, according to a recent post on Laokokok's blog, Times Of My Life.

The Martians Have Landed!

Recently petrol prices have sky-rocketed. It used to cost about S$1.10 per litre for 95-octane petrol not too long ago. Now it is about $1.70, an increase of more than 50%. The monthly petrol bill for my 1.6-litre Renault Scenic used to be just about $250. Now it is more $400. Together with rising electronic road pricing (ERP) charges expected from November this year, my car-related expenses have gone through the roof.

Everytime I fill up at a petrol station, I cannot but envy people who drive smaller cars than mine. (Actually, a 1.6-litre car is considered as a small car in most countries. However in Singapore, it is considered as a medium car, possibly because of the relatively tiny size of our island.) Besides paying less for petrol, small car owners also spend less on road tax and maintenance. Small and micro-compact cars are therefore very popular in Singapore, especially in recent years.

Do not be mistaken, compact cars are not invented only recently.

I have seen early micro-compact cars on Singapore roads even in the 1960s when I was a kid. One example is the very cute Isetta:


One of the models had a 236 cc two-stroke engine and was meant to transport two persons. In comparison, some motorcycles today have far more powerful engines.

Perhaps the most unique feature of this car was that the only door it had was at the front. You open it very much like opening a refrigerator door. That is probably because the car was designed by Milan-based refrigerator manufacturer Rennzo Rivolta of Isotherm in 1953. However, you will probably not scoff at this little strange car if you know that it was once also manufactured by BMW.

Besides the Isetta, a common mini car in the olden days was the Fiat 600. This car had a 600 cc engine. There was also an earlier 500 cc model called the Fiat 500. The engine was located behind the car. In the second photo below, you can see ventilation slit-holes at the back which helped keep the engine from over heating.


But of course, an even more common compact car then was the Mini which also happened to be my first car. It was green. I don't mean only its colour but it was very economical with fuel and hence it was very environmentally-friendly as well:


In recent years, micro-compact cars have made a strong comeback, probably because of the reasons mentioned in the first two paragraphs of this article. Below are examples of modern compact cars which we see on our roads nowadays:


Germany's Smart Fortwo

The Smart Fortwo even spawned a "copy model" called from China (who else?) called "Noble", manufactured by Shuanghuan:


Can you spot the differences? Of course China does have original products as well - the Cherry QQ:


Japan finds it hard to take a backseat. (This is understandable because some micro-compact cars have NO backseat, haha.) Japan has the Mitsubishi "i":


And Subaru R1 (first photo) and R2:


As well as the Daihatsu Mira or Cuore as it is known here:


And of course, our very friendly neighbour does not want to be left behind as well. It has the Perodua Kelisa:


(Incidentally, the Perodua Kelisa was declared the worst car in the world by Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson.)

Two weeks ago, I even saw a model I couldn't identify. It had a registration plate starting with "SFB" (which I have blackened out in the photo):


It looked like a vehicle from Mars, doesn't it? Unfortunately, it was going so fast along Upper Thomson Road towards the city that I could not keep up with it. Hence, I can't confirm if it was indeed a little green man driving the little green orange car.

Can any of you can identify it?

It Feels Good To Be Given A Second Chance

It always freaks me out when I receive a letter with the words "ON GOVERNMENT SERVICE" on the envelope:


From my past experience, receiving such letters always meant that I would soon lose something, be it money or time. You see, some typical examples of senders of such letters are as follows:

1. Inland Revenue Authority Of Singapore, demanding that I pay my income tax;

2. Ministry Of Defence, calling me up for National Service;



3. Other ministries/government departments, telling me that I have violated some rules and how I would be punished.

My heart skipped a beat when I turned over the envelope and saw who the sender was:



Now who wouldn't be afraid of receiving a love letter from the Investigation & Violation Reports Branch of the Traffic Police? In the past, all my replies to such love letters consisted of a signed cheque which would "compound" the offence. Don't ask me why but "compound" in this case does not mean "to make a difficult situation even worse by adding more problems". Instead, the meaning here is quite the opposite.

I tore open the envelope with trembling hands. What a surprise! Within the envelope was not exactly a love letter but a letter that I loved to read:

The Traffic Police must have realised how easy it is for someone to exceed the normal speed limit of 60 kmh by 1-20 kmh. I am not giving excuses but some modern cars would not even reach their top gears at 60 kmh. With the driver concentrating on driving, looking out for road hazards and so on, it is so easy to exceed the speed limit. In addition, cars are nowadays mostly air-conditioned and quite stable at high speeds, hence drivers sometimes breach the speed limit without even realising it.

I must say that it feels so good to be given a warning instead of an "offer to compound the offence" (which is really an euphemism for a fine). The Traffic Police is certainly moving in the right direction, emphasising more on education rather than punishment and using more of the carrot approach rather than the stick.

In fact, the current Road Courtesy Campaign even rewards courteous road users with a FREE $20 Cashcard and a box of New Moon Chicken Essence.

I am hoping that the next letter I receive from the Traffic Police will be one asking me to collect a cashcard and a box of chicken essence. Okay, okay, with the $130 I saved this time, I could buy myself a $20 cashcard and a box of chicken essence with enough money left over to buy a couple of beers to celebrate the occasion. Of course, I will not be driving immediately after I downed the beers. Cheers!