Amazing Durability!

Because Singapore came up with the COE (Certificate of Entitlement) scheme, car owners here basically are only able to drive their cars up to 10 years, before deciding whether to de-register their cars, or renew their COE, which will enable another 10 years of ownership. Due to the high price of the COE, which can sometimes go as high as the cost of a decent Korean car, many Singaporeans choose to purchase a new car instead of renewing it. It kinda makes sense since why would one pay an obscene amount of money just to purchase a piece of paper and keep an old vehicle? Most will therefore purchase a new car.



However, in other countries, people keep their cars for a long time and I have personally seen many old classic vehicles plying the roads in USA during my time studying in there. Cars are built to last nowadays and with proper care and servicing, these machines can easily take on 10-20 years of usage.



This brings us to Mr Allen Swift, whose story of car ownership is simply astonishing. He received his 1928 Rolls-Royce Picadilly P1 Roadster as a graduation gift in 1928, and drove it all the way till he died, last year, at the age of 102!! Thats driving the same car for 82 years! After his death, his vehicle was donated to a museum.




Much respect for this gentleman. Kudos too to Rolls Royce for being able to service this machine for so many years. I do not believe something like this will ever happen in Singapore. Now, let me think about what my next car, 4 years down the road.