Motormouth: Dream gal + dream car = dream drive, sure steam

Dreams last so long, even after my Valentine and VTEC are gone.

The length of the bittersweet dreamtime in question has been more than two decades and counting, over a proverbial dream girl who got away and a powerful dream car which sped away. 

It was Honda’s Power of Dreams, wet or otherwise, powering a racy EG6 Civic VTi pocket rocket, which in turn powered me from poor editor in a cheap car to seemingly unpoor editor in a chic car. 

I imagined the upgrade to be similar to how an ordinary O-level ah seng selling handphones could reach the same street-wise, neon-lit lifestage as an extraordinary A-level ah beng buying into the stereotype with pride.

However, the beloved co-driver who rode along with my “young and dangerous”, “far east and furious” but tattooless persona behind the wheel of my swee “Chee-veek”  wasn’t a sibei swee JDM (Jurong domestic model) ah lian with coloured hair and colourful language. 

Instead, she was a well-spoken young lady with a winsome smile, a good degree and a great personality. She was truly my better half and I had hit the BGR redline.  

It was not a match made in heaven, but it was almost a heavenly mismatch. I felt the same sentiment with my DOHC VTEC Honda hatchback.

The Civic’s styling was way sleeker than my own, which was much closer to Giordano than Valentino, with a touch of Brylcreem at best. My 8-year-old machine was fitter than 27-year-old me at the time and faster too. It was built to last, unlike increasingly dilapidated me. It was a boyracer fantasy driven by a non-racing old boy who never stopped fantasising about JAV (Japanese adult vehicles). 

Both car and gal, plus Bananarama, taught me about love in the first degree. 

I learnt spooning from her, before reading about Spoon Civics. And I realised that the only thing even more enjoyable than taking the VTEC rev needle to the top of the tachometer was the two of us in the front seats singing along to Top Of The World. 

It wasn’t the end of the world when the relationships eventually stopped, but the bump-thump they introduced to my long and winding road of life had a permanent effect. 

Farewell, dream gal. Goodbye, dream car. 

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