Family man and his trusty 1992 Toyota Corolla

Gerald Tan, who studied automotive technology, is able to do simple repairs and parts replacement on his 33-year-old car

- Lionel Seah

Mr Gerald Tan is a self-proclaimed geek with a fascination for all things car-related.

Although the 35-year-old is now a marketing and communication manager with a finance company, his passion for cars saw him sign up as a 17-year-old for a technical engineering course in automotive technology. The Institute of Technical Education course included a three-year attachment to a local car dealership.

In 2012, Mr Tan bought his first car – a 1992 1.3-litre seventh-generation Toyota Corolla known as EE101 – for $20,000, including a certificate of entitlement (COE) which was revalidated in 2009. This was after considering other cars from the era, such as the Subaru Impreza, which he found "a bit sluggish at low speeds", and the Honda Civic, which he felt was "too sporty and attracted too much attention", referring to the oft-modified Hondas of that period.