I Flew Twelve Thousand Miles To Accidentally Meet My Biggest Fan

Devoted readers of my personal site, if any such individuals actually exist, know that I’m currently in Malaysia for the purpose of compromising the international dignity of the United States by acting like a member of the “Duck Dynasty” in a time-trial series. The past week’s been fairly intense, to put it mildly. (And if I put it anything other than mildly, I couldn’t discuss it in a family-oriented publication like TTAC.) Today, however, I was visiting a few shops in Shah Alam, Selangor, to discuss a seat in the Sepang 1000KM Endurance Race and things got weird.

The car in the photo above is a lime green Audi A5 2.0T. I happened upon it by pure blind chance.

I want to repeat that, just for the record.

I flew a total of 12,700 air miles over the course of twenty-five hours, then drove four hours from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, then drove another hour to a cluster of obscure race shops in a corner of Selangor, Malaysia, and happened to drive right by this car. Occurrences like this make me strongly question my belief that the entire universe is ordered along logical principles.

Why is it so ZOMGAMAZING that I happened to find this car? Well… Long-time TTACers know that nearly three years ago, I sold my Audi Exclusive S5 in 1973 Porsche Lime Green. If you’ve forgotten the car, or never heard about it, here it is:

The Internet fame accorded to that particular car, the ease with which I sold it, and Audi’s passive-aggressive reluctance to even discuss doing another one for me all led me to believe that nobody had ever done anything quite like it before or since. It’s quite possible I’m wrong about that.

When I saw the A5, I immediately stopped my car, jumped out, and started photographing it. This led to an extremely unpleasant conversation with the proprietor of the garage, who told me I didn’t have the right to take pictures in a public street. My American sense of photographic freedom did not at any point intersect with his Malaysian sense of privacy. He wouldn’t tell me anything about the owner and he wouldn’t put me in touch with said owner. After a brief standoff, I agreed to leave but did not agree to delete the photograph.

What does the photograph tell us? Well, it’s a pre-facelift A5, and I’m guessing it’s a 2010 model. The interior is black, not brown. My quick impression was that the black roof was a vinyl decal. “Wraps” are a big deal in Malaysia — a few hours later, I had the chance to talk to the proprietor of a shop that wraps GT-Rs in brushed-metal foil — but I don’t believe this was a wrap. The car had the shine and depth of real paint.

Whether it’s factory paint is another matter, but I’m inclined to think it is, for this reason: it’s not Porsche Lime Green. Instead, it’s the “Viper Metallic Green” that was popular on the Euro-market Scirocco. When I started the order process for my Audi, this was the first color that was suggested to me, because it was already in the VAG paint bin. I insisted on the proper Lime Green and got it, but I can see how Audi might have steered subsequent punters to the metallic green. I don’t think it looks as good, but then again, I wouldn’t, would I?

Naturally, I am more or less dead certain that this car was inspired by mine. Perhaps the owner will see this and contact me to let me know. What are the chances, really, that I would just happen to fly and drive to the precise spot where the only other lime green Audi coupe in the world was sitting? It boggles the mind, it really does, and it piques the curiosity. If you’re the owner, holler at your boy here. I’d like to talk to you about the car — and I have a set of snow tires to sell you.