Abigail was blue with white stripes and I adored her

There is something spiritual about naming things. It’s a sign that objects are not just possessions. They carry with them a significance, they become a part of the family. I’ve named a couple of things: Lorraine and Catherine are my two guitars. In a way, it also extends to things I don’t have yet, things I hope to own one day. It’s akin to a man’s pursuit of the woman of his dreams. That’s where Abigail comes in.

For men, being interested in cars is a rite of passage. Yes, women can like cars too, let’s be more inclusive. But my first brush with American classic cars was in the early 1990s. My dad took me to the Trans Sport Show in Manila one day. I was holding the brochure for the motor show that he showed me earlier, so I knew where we were going. As I sat in the back seat of his Toyota, I glanced longingly at one of the cars in the brochure. It was black, boat-like, and it had white tyres — different from the black tyres that my dad’s Toyota had. It was later in life that I realised that the car was a 1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air.

Fast forward to 2018 and I’ve seen countless car shows not just in Manila, but also in Dubai. There is one thing in common with car shows in both cities — the giddy smile I wear on my face whenever I end up in the section where they have all the cars, from the muscle car era of the 1960s to those from the present day.

It was during a car show my uncle took me along for that I got the idea for Abigail. He was also a car buff whose only regret in life was not having the time to teach me how to drive a car. It was also during this period that I learned about cars thanks to some of the films I watched, such as

The Fast and the Furious and Gone in 60 Seconds. Those two movies stand out because, a) Vin Diesel drove a 1970 Dodge Charger with a blower popping out of the hood, which was completely wild, and b) My dad and I wanted to build our own Mustang after seeing Nicholas Cage drive his ‘Eleanor’ GT500 around Los Angeles.

Initially, I had wanted the Eleanor look for Abigail. After all, that was my first encounter with an actual Mustang. There were two of them in the show — one in red, and another in blue. I remember how the two Mustangs, in my eyes, stood out from every other car at the show. These were cars that I only saw in the movies, driven by the slick, cool protagonist with no radio save for the primal roar of their V8 engines under the hood. Back then, and even today — I knew I had to have one.

In my head, it was simple. Here was a car that didn’t look like anything else on the streets. In Manila, I grew up surrounded by boring family vans and surplus Japanese sedans. When Abigail came into my life, she had stripes and an exhaust note that sounded like a symphony. Here was a car that wasn’t just for going from point A to point B, but instead a car that will do just the same save for one exception - the smile in the driver’s eyes as he cruises along the highway.

As I grew up, my passion too grew, not just for Abigail, but for other cars of the era.

One day here in Al Quoz, in Dubai, I had a conversation with a man who ran a garage. He quizzed me about the car I was staring at and seemed impressed that some nosy kid in his 20s could identify a 1965 Buick Riviera. Another encounter was with an Arab who quizzed me about his Shelby Cobra. The prize for all correct answers was that I got to step into his car, turn the ignition, and listen to the revving of the massive 427 engine under the hood. I wore the smile of an ecstatic millennial who just happened to be there because his job was to distribute brochures.

But of course, no romance is complete without some hint of conflict. There are two things: I don’t have a driver’s licence (working on it!) and if I had one, a millennial owning a classic car isn’t a good financial decision. However, that doesn’t stop me from pining for her. For years now, I keep my dream of Abigail alive — watching a tonne of classic car videos on YouTube, to be inspired by pursuits of men with the same eclectic taste in cars as I have; as well as ‘owning’ a Mustang in every single video game I play.

I’m guilty of looking at ’67 Camaros, ’71 Challengers, ’69 Chargers and tail-finned Cadillacs but Abigail — this ’65 Mustang Fastback, in Royal Guardsman Blue, with white stripes that have existed only in my dreams, remains the most beautiful thing I’ve laid eyes on. I know for certain that the day will come when we’ll be together, cruising down the coastline with her V8 purr rolling along.