"yep, that'll do."

Cool thing that happened this past month: when fellow Hong Kong transplant David DM'd me to ask if I'd like to go for a cruise. His Instagram content is literally full of old retro cars that only hardcore car nerds would care about. So of course I was down.

Two weeks later, I took my E24 to meet up with him and his 1994 Volvo 940 sedan (@verne_the_volvo), in Volvo Tropical Green (or as I like to call it, "90s green"), with only 181k km on the clock on the legendary red block. The brick-like exterior also matches up with the no-nonsense interior, but packed with just enough features and massive switches that you won't mistaken it for a mid-90s Honda Accord. Not exactly the fastest car by any standard, but this is the sort of entry-luxo car any middle-aged Asian uncle would look at and go, "yep, that'll do."

 

... So then, I was in for a shock when I met David only to find that he's still in university. A boxy, mid-90's Volvo doesn't exactly scream Gen-Z after all.

Turns out, he comes from a family that's owned Volvos, Peugeots, and BMWs. He has also spent years in Hong Kong hanging out in the classic car community, and has taken a liking for unique, obscure cars.

We spent the next hour talking about our individual journey as car enthusiasts while growing up in Hong Kong, where everything from JDMs to European cars still roam around in the former British colony. It is quite fascinating how similar our journeys are, and how moving to Canada has also enabled us to widen our automotive lens as well.

In the end though, a boxy old Volvo is what he wanted for his daily driver here, because even when you are a car enthusiast, sometimes all you want to wear is the 30-year-old sweater.

Now, too bad that our cruise was cut short due to a punctured tire... Oh well, there's always next time.

Nice car though. Yep, that'll do.