When Henry Ford built his first automobile in 1896, it was practically a locomotive entity built on a buggy frame with four bicycle wheels. It definitely doesn’t compare to the automobiles of today – with their fiberglass hoods and hydrophilic fog-proof windshields. Be it the ride with an eight-way power adjust bucket seat with memory, lumbar support, and whiplash reducing headrest driver seat (like in the Mazda 6) or that which has a tilt adjustable, three-spoke urethane steering wheel (like the Honda Jazz), cars will always have a special spot in the heart of the automobile junkie.
Dinzo Tabamo, Top Gear staff writer
Q: How do Filipinos usually spend their money on cars?
A: It’s really a matter of taste. You can’t put a standard on preference. There are those who go on making faster cars for racing, while some concentrate on car shows. There are also some who like good music, so they try to put in the best sound systems. In the end, it really comes down to what a person wants.
Q: What are the most extravagant add-ons you’ve seen on cars in the Philippines?
A: There are people who spend around P3,000 for oil caps just because the label is NISMO. For me, that’s unnecessary. Also, there are those who paint the hoods of their cars black so that they’d look like carbon fiber.
Q: Why do you think is there so much interest in making better looking rides?
A: Why do girls put on makeup in the morning? How many outfits do you go through before you pick one? It’s a natural form of self-projection, whether or not it looks tasteful.
Angel Llantada (IV AB Eu), car enthusiast
Q: Were you always into cars?
A: [Ever since] I was a kid. (…) When I was two years old, I’d sit on my dad’s lap and pretend to hold the steering wheel and “drive.” I also played Need for Speed; it was a gateway drug.
Q: What is it about setting up cars that keeps you interested?
A: Setting up cars is interesting because there are endless possibilities that you can do with a car. [You can create] a race car or a show car or just an ordinary set up that you like. (…) [It gives me] self fulfillment and self accomplishment; it’s like a goal.
Paul Adasa (III BS LM), car enthusiast
Q: What are the perks of driving your kind of car?
A: Free parking at some establishments and the guards would treat me better sometimes. [Actually,] not free parking, [just] preferential treatment. They let me park sometimes in no parking spaces.
Q: Do you prioritize the look or the performance?
A: Performance, because sometimes, pag masyadong maporma [if it’s too styled out], other car enthusiasts would call your car “ricey,” all show no go.
Q: What’s your funniest, most vivid story about your car?
A: [During the] fun run last year to Tagaytay, I forgot to switch off my lights when I parked, so the battery got discharged; it wouldn’t start. So my friends and I had to push it along SLEX.
Justin Robles (IV AB IS), car enthusiast
Q: Your relationship with your car, would you call it an obsession?
A: I wouldn’t say it’s an obsession. It’s more like a passion. Obsession is different from a passion. It’s a little bit more than [a hobby], it has become a way of life.
Q: What can you say about stereotypes on car enthusiasts?
A: Most of [my friends and I included], we really need to earn to be able to set up our cars. Not all of us are given money; we have to find money. Our parents know that we’re making money. In my case, they like it.
