Hong Kong used to boast that it had the highest per-capita ratio of Rolls-Royces in the world. Now it can probably lay claim to having the most Mercedes S-class per square kilometer in the world, save perhaps for Stuttgart itself. The streets of the island are teeming with the XL-sized sedans, being used by young entrepreneurs, dignified-looking middle-aged folk and of course hotels. The Asian financial crisis may have knocked down Hong Kong’s property and business sectors, but the local people still love their luxury cars.
They love their supercars, too. Walking home from Park N’ Shop one weekday, a white BMW 5-series burbled by, when I noticed an M5 badge on its tail. A quick glance under its bumper showed four tailpipes—this was the real thing! The driver turned the corner, and parked the car a few meters down beside his friend’s car, a blue 360 Modena. It was all I could do not to run my hand down the Ferrari’s flanks as I walked by. The apartments in some of the residential areas, say Happy Valley, might be only refrigerator-sized, but the owners do compensate by having Porsches and Jaguars in their parking slots. A survey of some of the local buy-and-sell corner shops revealed AMG Mercedes, Aston Martins and a Ferrari 550 Maranello. The exotics are like vampires, tending to show up only at night. Or on Sundays, when our hotel’s parking lot had a DB7 and Maserati 3200GT among the sedans.
Okay, so HK might be able to claim the highest average top speed among its registered cars, too. It’s so sad, though, that they can’t really stretch their legs on ordinary days. The only long straights are on the highway to Lantau Island, which is being developed as a tourist destination. The supercar pilots can benchmark their speed against the high-speed train linking the city to the airport.
If you don’t happen to have a supercar, you can still get along quite quickly. Hong Kong does have an efficient public transportation system comprised mainly of subway (MTR), bus and electric tram. The buses and trams are double-deckers to save on precious road space. Still, the main roads do slow to a crawl at 5 pm to 7 pm due to sheer volume as cabs, private cars, buses and trams jostle for space. The trams, electric bus mounted on rails, sans aircon, are still the cheapest form of transport at HKD2 (PHP13.32 or USD 0.26) from end to end. The MTR is fastest, at HKD2 for each stop of 2-3 kilometers apart.
To conserve our precious supply of HKD, we usually took the tram and made only one trip on the MTR: to buy car parts; namely, a third brake light for our long-term Echo, which has such mean specs as not to be equipped with one. Manila dealers don’t have the part, either. We found the Hong Kong Toyota parts dealers quite efficient when it came to this particular part. I called in the morning, and though they didn’t it, they promised it would be at the outlet at 4 pm. I got to the dealership at 5:55, just five minutes before closing, and left a few minutes later with my prize, a few small bits of reflector, casing and bulb costing about HKD900 (!)
If you’re shopping not just for parts but a whole car, the place to head for is Gloucester Road on Hong Kong island, near the Wan Chai MTR stop. We visited one building that housed several car dealers, and we took note of their prices for comparison to ours. We checked out some representative Japanese makes, and Jaguar for a look at the high end. (See Table below.) Hong Kong imposes a higher tax for cars above 1.5 liters, so the familiar Civic, Corolla, Lancer, Sentra, etc. have a 1.5 engine as standard instead of the 1.6. Toyota Hong Kong has a much longer warranty than its Philippine counterparts, at 5 years/100,000 km. Honda follows a 3 year/100,000 km warranty, same as here, while Mazda offers a 3 year/unlimited mileage on its cars. We noticed that the mainstream cars like the Corolla and Civic were reasonably-priced, but the smaller-volume models, from the Echo to the S2000, are considerably more expensive when compared to Philippine or USA prices. The sky’s the limit in Hong Kong, and you can buy any car you want as long as you can pay the bill.
Car ownership is not subject to the draconian regulations of Singapore, nor is it as loose as it is in the Philippines. First registration tax is expensive, ranging from 40% to 60% of a car’s retail price. All the dealers we asked, though, include this in the purchase price. Emissions are strictly controlled, though, and new cars have to pass Euro 3 standards before they can be sold. Hong Kong air may be quite warm, but your face and nostrils will stay clean even after a ride on the tram, as the air looks and smells clean.
Hong Kong’s cars are right-hand drive which ensures a steady availability of Japanese models. Their 2001 Corolla looks identical to the Japanese version. Other juicy tidbits from Japan include the Skyline GTR and Integra Type-Rs. Small cars used for driving school are typically Suzukis or the Toyota Echo. Peugeot 307s also scooted about the city. The Civic and Corolla seemed to dominate the mid-class segment, while the larger cars tended to be European.
Hong Kong’s has succeeded brilliantly as a city because of its openness and capitalist spirit. As well as any aspect of the city’s life, its cars can attest to its continued energy and infectious vibrancy.
By Jason Ang | Photos By Jason Ang
Originally Published September 2001 Issue
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