Friends and family know too well my obsession with all things automotive. As kids, my two brothers and I would try to be the first to identify a car we’d see on the streets and then pronounce which ones we liked and which ones we didn’t. Like most boys, I had a fairly sizable Matchbox collection — with which I was absolutely fanatical. Even in the tennis boom of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s when I was a rabid age-grouper competing from the 12- to 18-and-under brackets, I was the only one who would rush from the courts whenever a sports car would arrive at the country club where we played.
At that time, precious few people even knew what Formula One was all about; but my beloved father would buy me Betamax tapes of the races from this one and only store in Virra Mall that even bothered to offer them.
In high school I was only one of less than half-a-dozen boys who could drive a car. College was a blur of skipped classes, managing a paint shop, and entering car shows at the last minute where we’d end up fitting bumpers and polishing the paint from nighttime until we saw the first rays of the sun hitting the perfectly accurate Italian Racing Red hue on the fender of a 12-cylinder 1966 Ferrari 330 GT that we restored for a customer. I was 21 years old then and it was finals week. Truly character-building stuff. My classmates and professors always wondered why I had a glazed look in my eyes during class. Late-night cramming? Ferrari-daydreaming? Or just the after-effects of inhaling too much two-component urethane paint? I will never know.
Despite my major having nothing to do with cars, my first job was for a Nissan dealership. The ad said, "You think you know something about cars? Then join us and prove it!" Or something to that effect. Less than a month after graduation, when my friends and batchmates were hitting the beaches, I was peddling — or at least trying to peddle — box-type Sentras to a general populace that was largely infatuated with the then-new 16-valve Corolla. More character-building stuff.
How I’d end up selling, marketing, advertising, writing PR, and customer-satisfying for Nissan for a good six-and-a-half-years, I honestly don’t know. But trying to push a brand with excess emotional baggage against the likes of Toyota and Honda for over half a decade smacks of the saying, "What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger."
Which is probably the reason why I joined the ad agency of Kia right after my Nissan years. I wanted to be stronger. Hey, no pain, no gain, right? And what better pain than writing ad copy to convince the hoi polloi that the Kia Pride is the best thing that happened to personal mobility since the invention of the wheel? Of course, the fact that the Kia distributor then also handled Mazda, Subaru, Daihatsu and BMW helped no end in further sparking my, umm, imagination and creativity. At the very least, it forced me to become a well-rounded writer.
Then I was off writing for a car magazine, followed by a newspaper (not this one yet). Now, after countless test drives, car launches, press trips, industry exec interviews, car shows, and plant and museum visits from ten years of automotive journalism, I find myself standing on a sandy and windy hilltop — tire gauge in hand — contemplating an assortment of sparkling Audis, svelte Mercedes-Benzes, a shapely Volvo, a serious-looking Honda Accord with its superb 3.0-liter 24-valve 240-hp V6 and a tremendously improved and vastly better-looking Hyundai Sonata with an even bigger 3.3-liter 24-valve V6.
The occasion? The fourth weekend of testing to determine which car would be the 2nd Car of the Year — Philippines. And, as my dear wife would remind my children whenever they’d complain about my work that has kept me away from them the past four weekends, as president of the organization that will determine which car will be the new Philippine Car of the Year.
It’s serious and extremely time-consuming hard work without any compensation — and not without so many inevitable problems. And I find myself praying to God that I will somehow be of benefit to this whole endeavor. But don’t get me wrong. I love what I’m doing and I’m enjoying every second of it. Mid-life crisis? Nah! Just a near-40-year old boy trying to find out which is the best among his much bigger Matchboxes. And one who can’t wait till the end of March to find out which one takes the cake.
Here are some questions, complaints and comments from last week.
Sir, I don’t think you’ll need a professional driver’s license just to test drive a bus. We also need your safety reviews on primary public transport because I think as a journalist it’s your duty to tell the truth and for us to trust and rely on you guys. More power and God bless The Philippine STAR! — 09189005665 (While we are very much flattered by the tremendous faith you have in us as journalists and motorists, it is a fact that one must obtain a professional driver’s license before one is allowed to drive a bus. That’s "Restriction 3" in the back of the license. It’s LTO official regulation. Perhaps the best we can do is assess the safety features of our public utility transport vehicles as passengers.)
To our national motoring community, I wish that we have the same automobile line ups as first world countries in our local showrooms. — 09167660911 (While that is everyone’s dream, economics dictates that a relatively small and discerning market will only allow comparatively smaller model line ups. We do know for a fact that the people involved in the legitimate auto industry are actually working very hard to make that dream a reality.)
Mayor Binay should not allow the set up of tents in the middle of streets for funerals or parties. It causes traffic and noise at night because of the videoke playing. — 09189054534
I read that Parañaque will soon issue BF Homes stickers. They should just open the main roads like what they did in Better Living and San Antonio — 09189054534
Please feature the new Hyundai Getz 1.5 CRDi Turbo. Better yet, pit it against the Honda Jazz iVTEC. Thank you. — 09175046531 (Patience, dear readers. Hyundai has yet to issue a test drive vehicle for media use.)
Attention MMDA and Taguig TMC: Please stop all counter flows at C5 in Taguig. Just wondering why the MMDA and the Taguig local government can’t stop it. — 09189489737
Attention MMDA: Please unclog Tramo Street and Aurora Street from Libertad Street to EDSA Pasay of parked vehicles. — 09193366782
Is it possible to use premium unleaded gas for a two-stroke motorcycle that uses regular gas? Will it affect the engine’s life span? Thanks! — 09213049117 (The lack of lead in the fuel will cause poor intake in the exhaust port sealing and eventual damage. The increased octane rating of premium fuel over regular will improve combustion but only by a small margin. It would be better to use the regular fuel that the engine was originally designed to run on. — Lester Dizon)
Speak out, be heard and keep those text messages coming in. To say your piece and become a "Backseat Driver", text PHILSTAR<space>FB<space>MOTORING <space>YOUR MESSAGE and send to 2840 if you’re a Globe or Touch Mobile subscriber or 334 if you’re a Smart or Talk ’n Text subscriber or 2840 if you’re a Sun Cellular subscriber. Please keep your messages down to a manageable 160 characters. You may send a series of comments using the same parameters.