A 20 YEAR JOURNEY

A 20 Year Journey

From valet to Sport Classic collector, this is the story of self-made Singaporean businessman and Porsche enthusiast, Albert Oon.

Oon’s journey began not with a purchase, but with a chance encounter. As a young man working as a valet at a nightclub, he saw a 911 SC for the first time. “I loved the car so much that I told myself, I will work very hard just to get something like that.”

The dream would take decades. After 20 years of building his family’s maritime supply business, Albert finally bought his first Porsche. “So more than 20 years later, my dream was fulfilled by the 930 Turbo.” The car he found was a Turbo Cabriolet. “I restored the whole car from nuts and bolts, and it’s been very reliable ever since.” That restoration marked the beginning of a collection that grew to include a 964, a 993, a 997.2 GT3 RS, a 991.2 GT2 RS, and most recently, the 992 Sport Classic.

But Singapore makes Porsche ownership a unique challenge, with prices often 2-3 times that of the cost in the West — which is why Albert’s Sport Classic is the only one on the island of Singapore. This steep barrier to entry and added requirements like a 10-year COE make ownership a largely unattainable dream for many enthusiasts.

Despite this, Albert believes patience pays off. “You have to have the fire in you, the perseverance, the passion. If you really love Porsche enough, well, there’s no old Porsche, only new owners. One day you can have it too. I waited 20 years. Come on.”

Albert’s love of Porsche has always been about more than cars. It’s about discipline, perseverance, and values carried from his earliest days.

“I was in the Singapore Commandos during my national service for 30 months. That training prepared me mentally for the corporate world. In the earlier days we were very poor, and it required a lot of perseverance, a lot of dedication, a lot of hardship.”

That mindset carried him into business and eventually into a collection spanning generations of 911s. Each car became more than a machine. “Every car is different. Every Porsche, although they are the same brand, somehow behave differently — just like humans. Brothers and sisters might share a family, but at the end of the day, their character will differ.”

“You have to have the fire in you, the perseverance, the passion. If you really love Porsche enough, well, there’s no old Porsche, only new owners."

“If I were to live again, I will do the same thing. Twenty years is not a long time. From a valet dreaming of a 911 to owning some of the most collectible Porsches around the world — none of it was wasted.”

From the 930 Turbo that began it all to the 992 Sport Classic he treasures today, nearly 40 years separate the two, yet Albert finds a throughline.

“When I step into the Sport Classic, it brings me back to the beginning of my Porsche collection. Porsche engineers tried very hard to make it as heritage as possible. The way it sounds, the power delivery, the interior — it’s so close to the 930. It doesn’t feel like a gimmick, it feels authentic.”

Looking back, he has no regrets. “If I were to live again, I will do the same thing. Twenty years is not a long time. From a valet dreaming of a 911 to owning some of the most collectible Porsches around the world — none of it was wasted.”

And yet, his journey is still unfolding, when we asked what’s next for the collection, he shared “I really love the 911 ST, and I hope to get an allocation.”