Mr Eddy Lim is not your typical car enthusiast, even though his ride of choice is usually a sporty model.
The partner in an interior design firm says it is not performance that attracts him to such cars, but their shape and form.
“It is always the look because I’m an art person. I have always liked art, even in school,” says the soft-spoken 60-year-old who dabbles in watercolour painting.
His car, a pre-owned Porsche Panamera, was actually an impulse buy during a family outing one Sunday afternoon in 2013.
“I don’t know much about Porsche, but the Panamera caught my eye because of its unique four-door coupe shape,” he says.
That the car seats four and has a sizeable boot add to its appeal for Mr Lim, an occasional golfer. He and his wife Gina, a housewife, have a daughter and a son, both working adults.
Mr Lim recalls his daughter being excited about the Porsche, exclaiming “Daddy, get this one” at the showroom in East Coast Road where it was displayed.
He had previously owned a Lexus GS300, Mercedes-Benz CLK230 Cabriolet, BMW 630i Coupe and a BMW 645i Coupe.
He says he bought the BMW 645i to replace the 630i because it had a more powerful engine and more features, “but it turned out to be a lemon”.
In the two years he had it, it developed gearbox problems and stalled once along Benjamin Sheares Bridge.
The Panamera is the biggest car he has owned.
“It is stressful in tight carparks. The parking sensors would keep beeping at every narrow turn. Eventually, I got used to it,” he says.
He has never driven any of his cars to Malaysia. Neither does he drive fast.
“I’m not a good driver, and I don’t speed,” he says. “I’m so slow that there was even an incident when I was chased by a lorry and overtaken.”
Unlike what you would expect of a Porsche owner, Mr Lim does not fuss over his car and is not bothered by dinks and minor scrapes. To him, the grand tourer is just a convenient means of transport.
He clocks about 20,000km a year and sends the car to official Porsche agent Stuttgart Auto for regular servicing.
“It never gives me any trouble, touch wood,” he says.
He has one minor quibble, though. The Porsche’s seats, he says, are “too hard”, compared with the BMW seats which were “much more comfortable”.
He usually keeps his cars for about five years. Although he is satisfied with the Panamera, which he has driven for only three years, he already has some idea what his next car will be.
“It won’t be a Ferrari or a Lamborghini – they’re too loud for me,” he says. “Maybe a Bentley (Continental) GT, Audi R8 or BMW i8. I have no brand loyalty. Let’s see.”
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