IF A PERSON'S automotive passion can somehow be measured and quantified, then Alan Fong's love for his cars has to be five times that of the average motorist. That is because he has five cars in his garage: a Porsche Cayman S, Lexus LS460, Honda Legend, Saab 9-5 Aero and Land Rover Defender.

The newest is the Legend, arguably one of the rarest cars in Singapore. Only seven of this fourth-generation model are currently registered here. With its 3.5-litre engine and all-wheel-drive, it is Honda's flagship luxury model and has a list price of $199,000 with COE - not an amount one would normally associate with the Honda nameplate.

But Mr Fong isn't your normal car buyer. He enjoys automobiles but when it comes to choosing one, he doesn't like to 'follow the crowd - I like something unique'. This is actually his second Honda Legend. He purchased the first in 1994.

'I bought a new Legend because I remember how good it used to be,' he recalls. 'It was quiet and comfortable, and the handling was good. I was the first person to buy it in 1994.'

He had been enamoured of the car after sitting in one owned by a friend in the Middle East. He still remembers how much he paid for that second-generation car ($236,000) and what its power output was (235 hp).

'I still miss that old car because of its classic design,' he reminisces.

Like the unusual models he picks, 62-year-old Mr Fong also has an unusual profession. He is the managing director of Crestchic Loadbanks, a worldwide loadbank specialist.

'A loadbank loads up the generator set, which is driven by an engine, to determine the power of the engine and alternator,' he explains. 'This will help to determine other things like the integrity of the governor of the engine that drives the generator.' He adds that it is a 'very, very niche business' and his customers are mainly big shipyards which deal in oil and gas rigs.

'In this region, there are only two players, including myself, for generators that are 20 megawatts and above,' says Mr Fong, a man with a warm smile.

Perhaps it's the businessman in him but before he buys a car, he says he will grill the salesperson on details ranging from its transmission and engine specifications to the turning circle and location of the air intake.

'I once drove a car whose air intake was close to the front wheel,' he explains. 'It stalled during a flash flood.'

He has lost count of the number of cars he has bought over the past 40 years but he can safely say that all except one had been new.

A friend had recommended the sole exception as a good buy because it was a diplomat's car with low mileage. It turned out to be a lemon. After that, he swore off used cars because 'you don't know its history'.

Another rule he observes is value for money.

'I always buy things that are value for money,' says Mr Fong. That is why, for his next purchase, he has lined up a few suitable candidates - a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, an Audi RS6 and a Lexus IS F - for their attractive combination of price and power.

'At the moment, I like the IS F best. I have been following its development for the past 10 years. The shape is not too bad and it's good value for money,' he says.

The Lexus IS F with its five-litre V8 engine is certainly very different from the first car Mr Fong owned in 1967: an Austin 1100.

'Before I bought that, I drove my dad's Mini stationwagon,' he says, referring to the old Traveller estate. It is this love for motoring that has taken him all over the world on driving holidays with his wife and daughter. In fact, he recently returned from two weeks of driving through Sweden and Denmark.

He first began driving on holidays in 1982. 'We drove all over Europe - Monaco, Austria, Italy - for a month,' he remembers with a laugh. 'In those days, you had to have different currencies for the different countries. It was free and easy, and we booked our hotel wherever we felt like it. And when there was no room, we slept in the car. My daughter was just seven years old then.'

What he particularly enjoys on these expeditions is the interaction with the locals. 'They are so friendly. We would go off the beaten track into small towns and villages, and eat at a tiny restaurant where for a couple of deutschemarks, you can drink as much wine as you like,' he says.

For him, cars and driving holidays are his preferred pastimes. That is why even as busy as he is, he prefers to drive himself instead of hiring a chauffeur. The ever practical man explains why: 'I don't buy good cars to let other people enjoy.'

This article was first published in The Business Times on Apr 5, 2008.