Video director's 'van life' with his Volkswagen

Mr Mohamed Juffrie Mohamed Juma'at uses his 41-year-old T3 van for work, camping and to ferry his mother

- Toh Yong Chuan

Freelance commercial video director Mohamed Juffrie Mohamed Juma'at is 35 and does not mind driving a van that is older than he is.

"It is my 'wasabi'," he says of the 41-year-old green Volkswagen (VW) T3 van. "I think it is the only T3 in Singapore, and it happens to be in the 'black plate', private car scheme."

Depending on the prevailing price of the certificate of entitlement (COE), car owners have to pay more than $100,000 to continue using their vehicle beyond the 10th anniversary of the registration.

However, cars that are older than 35 years can be converted from the daily use, private car scheme commonly known as "black plates" to the classic car scheme with red-and-yellow vehicle number plates. These owners pay 10 per cent of the prevailing rates to extend the COE, but their classic cars can be used only up to 45 days in a year.

Mr Juffrie's VW T3 was first registered in April 1983, and he bought it in the middle of 2022.

Asked how many owners the van has had in its 41 years, he says: "I honestly don't know."

He first set eyes on it in 2017. "I am constantly looking out for classic cars, and it's a bonus to find one that I can go camping in," he says.

"I first saw it being listed for sale online when I was on holiday in Amsterdam in 2017, but I didn't have the urge to buy the van," he recalls. The listing was "soon gone" and the van was sold.