Uncle, because he’s an old Beetle. Supp, because in Thailand this model is nicknamed “Superstar,” and because he’s the color of corn soup. I named him myself. It was the first name that came to mind.

We found him asleep at the back of a small garage in an old Bangkok neighborhood, tucked out of the neighbors’ sight. His owner had been the assistant to the Thai ambassador in England, and he’d driven this car there and brought it home. He had looked after it well. We checked everything anyway, the paint, the body, the interior, just to be 100% sure, but we already knew. We said yes on the spot.

My brother drove him home from the paperwork and I sat in the passenger seat. We were both surprised by how smooth he was. The front suspension is McPherson struts, like a modern car, nothing like the old Beetles we grew up with. We smiled the whole way home.

Living with him meant learning him. He smells like every good old Beetle, which takes me straight back to my dad driving me to school. He has a leather dashboard, which is what I look at most. He makes a lot of noise, and you learn which sounds to ignore and which ones to take seriously. When in doubt, turn the music up. He taught me things the hard way: I stalled him on my first drive to university and flooded the carburetor, and the security guard had to help push-start him. Another time I ran out of fuel in the middle of the road because the gauge doesn’t tell the truth. I coasted to the side and learned to never trust it.

At university I wanted to look cool more than I wanted to be comfortable, and he was my whole personality for a while. People on the road smile when he passes. He’s a kind of mascot.

In April 2023, around Songkran, I drove him from Thailand to Singapore and back through Malaysia, with my dad and two other Beetles. It took about 12 days, and we spent almost every hour together. He didn’t break down once. The only complaints were ours: we’d lowered him so far that the rear tires rubbed the fenders in fast corners, so we raised him, and his exhaust got very loud at speed. He reached Singapore looking perfect.

He’ll be the last car I ever sell. One day I want to take him back to England.