Classic love story

David Chan has spent most of his life (he's 72 now) around cars - building, restoring and racing classic British makes like MG, Lotus and Triumph. He still owns the motor workshop where he and son Brian painstakingly bring old cars back to life. It is filled to overflowing with vehicles in various states of repair, with assorted engine parts strewn around seemingly at random.

Mr Chan, who jokes that it wouldn't be a shock to find engine oil running through his veins, still owns the car his grandfather gifted him at 18 - a sure sign in a country that isn't conducive to owning vintage and classic cars that he is more than a mere motoring enthusiast. That car happens to be an early-model Austin-Healey Sprite dating from the late-1950s, making Mr Chan's story a rare one in modern-day Singapore: he's owned the car since before the nation's independence.

The red two-door roadster, nicknamed "Bugeye" or "Frogeye" because of headlights that appear to pop up above the bonnet, is a relic from a golden motoring age. He may not have realised it at the time, but the "Bugeye" set the tone and lit a career path for the rest of his life.