Cool Cars of the Philippines

          A cute little Mini Countryman spotted parked on a small street a few days ago. The Mini and all its parts were all stock and completely original. Its lustrous silver paint, asymmetrical double pinstripe and chrome trims reflected off every ray of light that shone on it.      The official name, as seen on the rear trunk of the car, was "Mini Cooper D Countryman". Its generation started its production process in 2017 and has been in continuous availability ever since. Manufactured and designed by BMW, this faux-British car shared its platform with the BMW 1 and 2-Series. Although the current variant featured here isn't available anymore in the local market, its class is still being sold between either the prices of ₱3.75 million and ₱4.85 million.      Inside the interior of the vehicle, the Mini's unique design is more apparent here. The round features of the console, speedometer, doorknob, and its other necessities are more noticeable to the eye, a distincti

          This massive full-size truck was seen parked next to the local dry cleaners. Unlike most early 2000's vehicles made by General Motors, this one was obviously taken care of, like a cute puppy.       This beastly SUV was produced by AM General, the creators of the original Hummer H1 and the Humvee, under the supervision of GM. It was in production from 2002 until 2009, when GM filed for bankruptcy. Hummers, such as these, were sold here locally, imported through the grey market to Port Irene in Cagayan, right before being transported all the way to Quezon City to its only dealership, on G. Araneta Avenue, now a lot presenting an empty grass field, after being closed down.      The Hummer H2 featured a large 6.0 liter V8 engine, capable of producing at least 325 horsepower. This huge and gas-devouring engine was placed on a heavily modified GMT820 platform, used by other GM cars such as the Chevrolet Tahoe and the Cadillac Escalade. Because of this truck's massive weight

     A Suzuki Samurai, sitting under a shade in Quezon City. The not-so-little truck had numerous modifications applied to its wheels, suspension, front bumper, rear bumper, and roof. This JX variant had been specifically made for a calling in nature, bouncing around in the dirt and mud.      The Suzuki Samurai was manufactured between the years 1981 and 1998. During its more-than-a-decade long history, it has undergone many different changes to its components, interior and exterior. The Samurai had various names such as the Holden Drover and the Maruti Gypsy, as it was sold in countless countries during its heyday, including the Philippines in the early 90's.      Seen from the front of the truck are its body and suspension lifts. The suspension seemed to be heavily modified, with its shocks and springs most likely replaced with aftermarket ones. Its front bumper had bullbars with yellow fog lights attached, adding to its retro feel, while its front right fender had a snorkel atta

     A black Mitsubishi Galant, sitting in front of a three-way junction. It had an old coat of paint, unwaxed and dull. The old car still retained all its stock parts and still seemed to be used daily.      There were patches of paint on the hood that seemed to grow faint. The headlights too looked foggy and faded, which made the car look quite unsafe to drive at night, due to its decreased light output.      The car's rear also featured the same paint shine seen on the front. The rear bumper had parking sensors and a large single exhaust tip. An emblem displaying the local name of the Galant's model sat on the corner edge of the trunk, the "240M".      The interior gave an old-man feel, as if it were driven by someone of age above retirement. The seats' leather was scratched up and the wood polishing found by the door didn't look so glossy anymore. Meanwhile, the car was fitted with a 4-speed automatic gearbox, notable for a car of its refinement

     This great big Mazda MX-6, spotted within Quezon City, looked like it needed a good scrub. Its paintjob mixture of grey and blue proved itself to be quite attractive, a subtle color for a not-so subtle car.      This sporty model was introduced to the Mazda lineup in 1991, and was made until 1997. It was built on Mazda's GE platform, also used by the Mazda 626 and the MX-6's sister car, the Ford Probe, a rebadged version.      It was released with three variants, the A-spec, the E-spec, and the J-spec, which related to the markets it was sold in, the U.S., Europe and Japan. It was not sold here locally, unfortunately.      The MX-6's rear is what really took the cake. Standing tall is its A-spec wing, reminiscent of the Toyota Supra's spoiler. The large wing was most likely built at Mazda's in-house performance division, Mazdaspeed, which had used to build sportier versions of Mazda's production vehicles, become involved in motorsports development, and offe

                                This black Ford Focus was seen sitting by the curb on a hot, typical January afternoon in the Philippines. The car looked like it had gone through some use over the years, but its appearance lead me to believe it was still up for some more.      The Focus here was a 2009 facelifted model, which featured significant changes to its front end, more noticeably on the front bumper. It was also fitted with a 1.8l Duratec petrol engine.      Its fading black paint did not let in much reflection through, and its front bumper was missing its tow hook cap. However, its custom aftermarket sports rims gave it a "street feel" that could possibly turn some heads. Although, I personally, did not really dig its wheels.      Its rear bumper was fitted with parking sensors, a standard that came with all trims. Although, above the license plate, it also had a rear-view camera, an optional extra that had been selected by the owner of the vehicle.