Gurjinder Singh Sembhi shows off his passion for cars in short film

Gurjinder Singh Sembhi, a local businessman, has a true passion for his cars, which led to him and his classic Audi starring in ‘ Cars That Made The 90s - Audi RS2 Avant’.

The Influx video, which has over half a million views on YouTube, showcased Mr Singh Sembhi’s vast knowledge on his favourite retro ride.

“It’s basically built on a standard Audi AT platform,” he began.

“The S2 Avant at that time wasn’t actually as fast as some of their competitors, mainly in BMW and in Mercedes.”

“So, they commissioned Porsche to basically take this car and say, ‘Okay, make it as fast as possible. We want to be able to compete with BMW’s Touring and Mercedes Estate at that time’.”

“And Porsche basically took the S2, which was a pretty powerful car at the time, 230 brake horsepower in an inline 5 engine, and beefed it up.”

He would then reflect on one of the main reasons he loves the RS2: the engine.

“It has a lot of nods to the 964, which is from the same time that this car was built,” he explained. “You have the wing mirrors, you have the alloys, you have the callipers, but then the biggest thing they did was on the engine. So, instead of the normal 220 brake horsepower, they beefed it up to 315 - from the same inline 5 engine - which you can really feel when you’re revving the cars. This became a sports car for everyday people.”

When it comes to memorable cars from decades gone by, Mr Singh Sembhi said, “I think certain cars deserve to live longer.”

“You know, the Master 323 I had at the beginning of my car journey, does that deserve to still be here today? No, it didn’t deserve to be there back then. But I think certain cars deserve to be kept around for a little bit longer, whether that’s going to be possible in the future or not, but as long as it can be, I think, yeah. I’d hate not being able to see RS2s on the road, so, as long as I can keep it on the road, I will.”

Sitting in his Audi, he would discuss what it’s like to be behind the wheel and why he keeps coming back to older car models.

“I think between Audi and Porsche, they really managed to maintain the drivers’ aspect of it. I mean, you feel that you’re driving,” he said.

“For me, the first time when I sat in this car and I drove it home and it was mine, it was a joy. I think that’s my connection with every car that I have, is that, if I’m happy with the car, I almost don’t care what happens to it. I will rebuild it from the ground up. I’ll spend the money that goes on it and, for me, whether it was this one or my S2 or my S5 even - that’s my daily. Every time I sit in my cars and whether it’s a long drive or just a short drive, I feel happy, and that’s what matters to me.”

He continued his point, acknowledging that modern cars just don’t impress him.

He would clarify, “Most cars feel the same these days. Back in the 90s, it was more, how outrageous can we make it? What’s the most outrageous body lot we can do? How can we push power from the engines? If you were looking at rally back then or Formula 1 back then, I mean, the necessity for innovation was bigger than what it is now. Obviously, you know, I think car culture is a big part of it as well, and the manufacturers kind of supporting it, right?

“You ended up having pretty unique cars, even though, you know, everybody bought the same base model, but there was much more scope to be able to be able to do something about your car and make it your own. Consumers that are into their cars, you know, building their cars, modifying their cars, that smaller demographic, maybe is not the one that’s going to give them the most money."

“That’s unfortunate because we’re the ones that are passionate about it, we’re the ones that are loving it. We’re the ones that will drive to Wörthersee, Austria, for a car show or to Poland for a car show just to be able to be part of that scene.”

“But, if that possibility is not there, that’s really difficult to then keep that passion alive and, especially for cars like this, every year, the amount of parts that you can get is going to get smaller and smaller. I would love to have this (his car) for the rest of my life, but if the parts are not there for me to be able to build it, and own it and maintain it, then, yeah, at some point, you’re going to have to let it go.”