VALHALLA GARAGE Malaysia

Although Malaysia has a car culture similar to that of Thailand, there aren’t many Porsche Group members there. One individual, though, was absolutely fixated on ‘Porsche Air-Cooled.’ It’s ‘Mr. Huang Ean Hwa.’ or ‘Mr. Hua’

With the help of friends in Malaysia who made the initial contact Considering that Ms. Hua is comparable to an artist who prefers not to participate in too many talks about his work. As a result, Mr. Hua, a young graphic designer who has committed his life to his love of Porsche Air-Cooled, was the person we have a conversation with. Valhalla, the land of the afterlife in Norse mythology, according to Viking beliefs, was a pastime up until he opened his own garage, this name was chosen because it seems to be the perfect paradise for a Porsche Guy who wants to build an original automobile or undergo a ‘Rebirth.’

Mr. Hua, who is 52 years old, and is employed as a graphic designer in an advertising agency tells us that as a child, he was a guy who liked design work and appreciated handcrafted work. He started his adored passion by altering a bike and later autos, his first automobile was a ‘VW Beetle’ or ‘Volkswagen Beetle,’ and he thought it was a good car with features a sturdy, long-lasting suspension and an air-cooled engine, and after researching more and more. He even vowed to himself that he would buy a 911 before turning 30 because it was the peak of cars of this kind. Finally, he accomplished his goal. He bought his first 911 when he was 29 years old. It was a green 1987 G Model with 3.2 liter engine from 964 with RUF wheels. After a while of driving, he repaired the automobile himself by methodically disassembling it piece by piece and becoming familiar with its components,

in contrast to most car owners who will send their vehicles to a skilled garage for restoration, but Mr. Hua opted to do everything on his own, disassembling the automobile, customs and replacing all but the engine and paintwork which most garage would advise changing out components and taking any other action that did not please Mr. Hua.

After that, Ms. Hua proceeded to buy a 944 to use as a second car, but eventually, both vehicles had to be sold because his wife was expecting a child and he needed to buy a new house, but Mr. Hua vowed to himself that he will purchase another 911 again, as soon as he purchased the home and began remodeling he immediately instructed his buddy architecture to convert the home’s original bedroom into a garage for parking 911. The size of this room can only park a 911 Air-Cooled and the architecture designed it as he wished because there was also a 964.

Until after that he was able to buy another 911, a 911 SC from 1979, back then (2002) in Malaysia there wasn’t much interest in Porsche Air-Cooled so he bought it for just 7500 Ringgit only (about 60,000 baht) Or car like the 930 Turbo at that time (all items, can’t run, one-handed owner) was sold for only 45,000 Ringgit!!! (About 360,000 baht) which back then was not a trend, there was no RWB or Singer or anything that was trendy. It’s a car that no one wants in Malaysia!!!!!.

Nowadays as we all know the price of each model has gone up a lot and so too in Malaysia. Mr. Hua also commented further that nowadays, everyone wants Air-Cooled because it is a popular trend in society or people with wealth want to collect it for speculation. Real Porsche enthusiasts may no longer be able to afford them as a result of market forces as a result of these enthusiasts driving up prices in the market so much. The 356C and the 904 are Mr. Hua’s ideal automobiles.

The beginning of Valhalla

After modifying his own car by studying on the internet and doing trial and error with his car all the time. As for the engine, Mr. Hua has almost 60 years old mechanics, who modify the engine until they become close friends. Most of the cars built in the 70s-90s have some poor factory assembly details because some of the processes are handmade, customizing the car himself caused him able to keep all these details intact, and after that, his friends brought the car to his home to modify as a hobby. Around 2015, he formally opened Valhalla to fully modify the cars of his customers. (According to free time) because he did it alone as a hobby, not a serious business to make money, just want to modify a car. The name Valhalla just had an official logo around 2018 because Singaporean customers want a sticker indicating where the car is made from.

When a customer came to modify a car Mr. Hua wasn’t just replacing some parts, but it a Project Car, dismantling the car and encountering problems for each car as a whole, some cars have rust that can’t be seen, cracked car body, the engine, after making an overall car then able to manage the car making step by step, send the car to get the body styling, paint, in the meantime order parts, send the engine to overhaul take back to assemble every step at home because the overall quality can be controlled. He’s a person who likes perfection because he is also a designer, to modify a car, Mr. Hua must first explain and talk in brief with customers, otherwise, Mr. Hua will definitely not accept the job. The car is like a work of art,like a Monet painting so the final image is clear and accurate to the original car.

Most car owners in Malaysia often save pictures from Instagram and order that they want to do something like this. For example, a customer wants to paint 356 paint with their car, but the picture from the Internet is taken in a foreign country and has a light temperature different from the picture taken in Malaysia, the picture has been decorated, so in every paint job, the paint must be sprayed on the sample piece of work before the actual color is applied to the car, and may not be suitable for newer cars as well in the colors of older year cars, and may not be suitable for newer cars as well in the colors of older cars. These efforts are also due to the need to restore good cars to be found in Malaysia as well because Mr. Hua thinksthat neighboring countries like Thailand or Singapore can modify a car very well.

Right now the project I’m working on is modifying a Pestore Porsche 934 that comes in really bad condition to become the perfect car, we will bring this car to offer if we have a chance someday.

Mr. Hua spoke about the current trend of Porsche cars activities in Malaysia which is not yet a big group. There are different groups of people but they are not grouped together. The new generation will be interested in Water Cooled but the style is not very clear. Added more and more carbon parts, tune the car engine to deliver full power, likes to drive on the straight road, and different driving styles from Air Cooled Porsche driver which likes to drive on curved roads. (B Road is a secondary road in Malaysia) to experience the performance of a car that turns well. In the future, Mr. Hua would like to perform groups to become a community that can organize large events like Thailand, like DAS TREFFEN or creates a group like RennDrive.

Mr. Hua mentioned that the Porsche group in Thailand is full of passion, modifying a car in our country is like coming out of a magazine, noticed that everyone has carefully researched to modify a car in their own style. The grouping in Thailand is strong, there are meetings all the time and I hope that one day Malaysia will have something like this, like DAS TREFFEN may be held at Sepang and also organize a Track Day.

Mr. Hua then gave us the opportunity to take pictures with his favorite car: a 1981 911 SC 3.7 K7, 5 Speeds transmission of 915, Reaceware Engine Stud, Pressure Fed Tensioner, Msd Ignition Coils, Exhaust Header, M&K Muffler, Fuch wheels, BMW’s old seat, Carburetor, Door Handles of 356.

I had the opportunity to drive Mr. Hoa’s car up to the hills in the middle of KL by myself, this car is really perfect for this winding road, suspension, and engine response make me feel the emotions in each curve of the road. Until he reached the top of the mountain we were portrayed this set of images in the way he intended. Before parting, Mr. Hua gave me the Spare Key of the 911 Air-Cooled as a souvenir, as if implicitly telling me to chase my dreams.