This photo was taken in June 1997, the year the first signs of the Asian Financial Crisis was starting to hit. The COE (Certificate of Entitlement) in Singapore that year was hovering around S$ 50,000 after having hit a record high of in excess of S$ 100,000 (!). I was in Germany for the agents' Worldwide Sales Conference for a week and my then business partner booked the Mercedes Benz SLK 420 convertible to rent for 3 days for a (then) reasonable sum of S$ 1,200 (about S$ 400 per day after converting from Deutchmarks). Petrol costs on the other hand, were another matter altogether ! Price per litre of petrol was hovering around DM 2 (S$ 2.00) per litre in France and DM 1.70 (S$ 1.70) for Germany.
To drive a luxury car in Europe is frankly one of us guys' pleasures and to drive a convertible at 240 km/hr on the Autobahn - there are no speed limits except for a few stretches near the big cities like Frankfurt, Cologne or Munich, is really something to be experienced. The Germans really DO appreciate and understand the mechanics and decades of technology advancement of the car (this is the country which produced the first petrol fired vehicle - Daimler) and the weather during spring / summer is perfect for this land tourer with the top down. Showy, YES but then LIFE is to be savoured within ones means isn't it ?
There is nothing quite like it over in this part of the world, firstly because of the humidity in S.E.Asia,and secondly there is NO WAY one can get by driving in Singapore or Malaysian highways at 240 km/hr without worrying when the 'Uncle Sam' (traffic police) is going to pounce on you.
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