20 Years of Motoring. In those days there were no MPVs in Malaysia.

I just realised one thing. I got my driving licence at the age of 18 and I have been driving for 20 years. This basically shows that I am almost an old fart. Motoring throughout the years have been fun. And surprisingly, it is after nearly 2 decades of driving and motoring that I started blogging about most of the experiences. Well, those days the internet was a real 28.8kbps slow moving piece of information technology compared to the Gigabytes that we get these days from broadband. Nowadays everyone can access information and buy stuff off the internet. Something we didn't have those days.

In those days there wasn't much info on-line about modifying your car or about anything much actually. Computers were basically the same size but speeds were tortoise levels. I remember starting off on the internet in 1990 on Bulletin Boards. These was the forums of that era and information was limited to those with slightly more than basic PC knowledge. The PC I had was a 486SX-33mhz and 4mb RAM. Now, I'm on a notebook with about 2.6Ghz with 1Gb of RAM. I think. Streaming video was a thing that was never thought about. Streaming audio was already fabulous at the time. And back to cars, everything we had to find out about our next purchase or next mod were from magazines. It was a month to month thing waiting for the next issue of Performance Car or Fast Car to come out. Usually shipped a month late from the UK to Malaysia. Boy, we were backwards then.

Cars in 1990 were still light and nippy, and expensive aside from Proton. A 1.5 Saga Automatic cost around RM33,000.00 and the Honda Civic EF was the car to own, at around RM10,000-15,000 higher. I was driving around in a 1981 Honda Civic and, having any car was good enough. A car meant freedom, and I cherished it. When I didn't have the car around me, due to various reasons (it was actually my mum's car which I took over) like dad needed to use it as his car was in the workshop, things was slightly dull and depressing. You could impress the gals with any car those days.

These days, things are faster and so much more refined. People are so much more demanding and a 20 year old banger wouldnt get you through 1st base most of the time. Unless you pour alot of money into the ride of course as even a basic entry level car can handle decently and post a faster laps that 200bhp cars from 20 years ago. Technology has made things so much better. Maybe the only thing missing is soul. Everything is digital and there's not much place for analog. Even in cars. For example, cars have electric motors ruining steering feel for the 1% fuel economy. Cars have electronic everything that someone limits the car and driver interface. Everything goes through a single button to scroll aircondition, radio, cd, mp3, lights and so forth. Those days 1 switch operated 1 item. Not anymore.

But one good thing last time was that no one even heard of the concept of using MPVs. People could survive with just a 4 door sedan and travel places with it. I think we are spoilt for choice nowadays. And its making us make all the wrong choice. Those were the days. And aside from no MPVs on Malaysian roads, I think things are better nowadays.