Caterham F1 Team : G-Shock Rangeman Military

I would admit that Tan Sri Tony Fernandes' Team Lotus-Caterham F1 Team held a sweet spot in my heart. And it was very much a loss to all its fans when the team went under administration late last year and was ultimately sold off at a token sum of £1 with its liabilities incurred during the seasons to boot.

Why was the team so close to my heart then?

Lotus : It was the initial Team Lotus, and I have always loved Lotus cars having experienced the Elise Mk1 in the 90s. I believe Tun Dr Mahathir was holding helm at Proton Holdings then, and it was a visit to the Proton factory that I had the opportunity to try the Elise. I was sold on the car and hoped to own that lightweight sports car someday. The day has yet to materialise though, as there was always some more important family matters to provide for over the years. I still harbour the hope to have an Elise in my parking spot someday though.

Caterham : The Caterham Seven, based on the Lotus Seven, was an even more hardcore and super-lightweight car that tugged the heartstrings of car enthusiasts worldwide. It had looks that distinctly divided the general public into 2 camps- those whom loved it, and those whom don't. No prizes for guessing which camp I was in then.

Tony F : I have been fortunate to meet the acquaintance of TS Tony a couple of times, and he was indeed a friendly and shrewd businessman. I admired the man for his business acumen and bigger-than-life personality, and all the while using this personality to further PR for his businesses. Compared to some of the Neandertal-grade politicians whom spout nonsense from time to time, I find it refreshing that Malaysia has talents as this man, whose words were good as gold.

Put all these together, and it was no surprise that I would be supportive of the Team. In fact, I had been collecting some of their Team merchandises from overseas travels, before the Team went under. For after the Team went under, the stocks of their merchandises cleared off pretty quickly as fans snapped the momentos for collection. A quick check on their official merchandise online stores showed the following :

And quite by coincidence, I found that the G-Shock Rangeman Military in its green-and-yellow colour combinations, matched the green-and-yellow livery of the Team rather perfectly.