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Saturday, August 14, 2010

Who Is Ahmad Fadhil Zhafri?

It was a blissful morning on that day and on that day 13th March 1983 at 9.30 am, I took my first breath into this vulnerable world at the labor room of Ipoh Specialist Centre after sitting comfortably in my mum’s womb for 9 months 3 days. Sometimes, I wonder whether the first cry was a cry of happiness or sorrow, only God knows as He knew better than we do.
I did not know who my parents were but all I could remember was my mother’s tears dripping onto my soft cheek so did my dad on which later I knew that Ahmad Fuad Jaafar is my dad and Zulaika A Rahman is my mum. As a baby, I am vulnerable towards diseases and various of illnesses. According to dad, I did not cry for long due to difficulties in breathing thus I had to be put in an incubator. My mum said that she was admitted into the labor at 2 am but only delivered me 7 hours later, gosh, wonder how painful and suffer my mum was; using all the strengths that she could merely to get me into this world. According to mum, I was a huge baby and weights about 8 pounds, man how big I was.
As I grew up, I went through a wonderful childhood days on which other kids did not stake a chance to feel the beautiness of my childhood days. Yup, as early as a baby, I grew up in a moderate comfort living in a bungalow provided by dad’s company, I got everything that a boy would ever wanted in this world; toys. The most unforgettable memories was my childhood days at a serene place located at the outskirt of the city of civilization, Kuala Lumpur. Called Batang Berjuntai (now known as Berjuntai Bestari, where my sister is studying currently). Yup, indeed it was a memorable moment during my stay there. Everything was provided and off course the small boss (me) would get everything that he ever wanted. The story began at an old English-style bungalow located at Bukit Minyak. Back then, those who lived at Bukit Minyak were regarded as rich and only selected people were allowed to enter the housing area as the housing area were strictly secured.
I was 3 back then and off course when looking at that old spooky bungalow (indeed it was) was a great horror. Yeah it was big and I remembered that I could even play hide and seek inside the house, imagine how small I was and how big was the house. Not only that, the surrounding location of the house added tonnes of credits how scary the house looked like. Surrounded with palm trees, the house looked conducive in the daylight but in the night time, the house looked spooky added with mist. I spent 7 years living in that spooky house before my family moved out from the house to Kemaman.
Another chapter began as my family moved to Kemaman, Terengganu. I spent 4 1/2 years there. First, we lived at Taman Jakar Jaya. It was a single storey bungalow but we did not stay there long due to the instability of the house. When I was in the standard two, my family shifted to Taman Haji Wan Ngah 2 and spent the rest of the 3 years in that terrace double storey house. There I spent my primary school days at Sekolah kebangsaan Seri Kemaman. I met with various of people there and I still keep in touch with them although I only met them after 11 years I left Kemaman and my family decided to settle down in Kuala Lumpur.
The journey will continue……
Tuan Haji Jaafar Ishak @ Tok Aki (1915-1989). This picture was taken in October 1934 and if I was not mistaken this picture was taken while he was studying at Sultan Idris Institute of Teaching, Tanjung Malim. How handsome and good looking my grandfather was during his younger days. He got married to my grandmother, Hajah Mahani Mohd Salleh @ Tok Wan (1925-2006).

 This picture was taken in 1966. How lovely they were. That’s my grandparents; Hj Jaafar Bin Ishak and Hajah Mahani Binti Mohd Salleh. They were blessed with 9 children, named:

From Right To Left:
1. Sarah Jaafar 2. Aishah Jaafar 3. Hafsah Jaafar 4. Safiah Jaafar 5. Zauiah @ Zawiyah Jaafar

  Ismail Jaafar

 Ahmad Fuad Jaafar


Shamsuddin Jaafar
This Family picture was taken in 1957 in front of Tok Aki’s house, a teachers’ quarters at Rawang Town, Sungei Mati, Muar.
Sitting from left:
Allahyarhamah Hajah Mahani Mohd Salleh, Ahmad Fuad Jaafar (sitting on the lap), Allahyarham Tuan Haji Jaafar Ishak, Tok Aki’s Aunty (not sure the name)
Standing from left:
Zainal Abidin Jaafar, (Not sure the name), Hafsah Jaafar, Sarah Jaafar, Ismail Jaafar, Aishah Jaafar, Safiah Jaafar, Zauiah @ Zawiyah Jaafar


This picture was taken during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration back in 1978. A complete family picture comprising of two generations of Tuan Haji Jaafar Ishak’s family. However, two of the person inside this picture had passed away.

Sitting 1st row from left:
Shahrul Eashak Ismail, Mohd Azhafi Aziz, Saliza Aziz, Badruddin Abdul Wahab, Zulkifli Haris, Izzuddin Abdul Wahab, Salehuddin Haris

Sitting 2nd row from left:
Hafsah Jaafar, Safiah Jaafar, Allahyarham Mohd Azhari Aziz (sitting on lap), Shariah Hassan, Allahyarhamah Hajah Mahani Mohd Salled, Allahyarham Tuan Haji Jaafar Ishak, Sarah Jaafar, Aishah Jaafar, Abrizah Haris (sitting on lap), Kamariah Haron @ Maya, Edzuan @ Iwan Zainal Abidin (sitting on lap), Zauiah @ Zawiyah Jaafar

Standing from left:
Suraya Eashak Ismail @ Dottie, Shamsudin Jaafar, Ahmad Fuad Jaafar, Abdul Aziz, Ismail Jaafar, Allahyarham Tuan Haji Raya Ibrahim, Mohamed Haris Ismail, Abdul Wahab, Rusly, Zainal Abidin Jaafar

As time evolved, same does with Tuan Haji Jaafar’s family; although he did not managed to see his great grandchildren, the legend goes on. And we had our first mass family day get together at The Pine Resort, Frasers Hill in 2008 where 4 generations of this family gathered and utilised the two day one night event to bond the relationships. In the picture, the family gets bigger and bigger year after year.
I hope that there will be more event like this in the future for fellow family members to know each other as well as bonding the relationships between one family to another. I am sure that if Tok Aki and Tok Wan were still around, I could see how proud they were to see the effort made by their family members in bonding the relationships between the big family.

Tok Aki passed away in 1989 at the age of 74 year old and he was buried at Mont Kiara Cemetery, KL meanwhile Tok Wan passed away in 2006 at the age of 81 year old. She was buried at the 6th Mile Cemetery, Muar. Al-Fatihah to both of them, May God blessed their soul with all His blessings.

-Fadhil Zhafri-
Mercedes-Benz 450SL
I simply admired the look of this car

Dad's car also participated in this event, a W124 260E.
A Mercedes-Benz that is still alive and relevant o n the road till today.
Other people will plunk in all those so-called powerful and reliable Japo engines, but not for this car.
Still looking stunning despite of its age.
1970 Mercedes-Benz 300 SE 3.5
One of the unit I was fighting with, in the modern classic category
Porsche 356
Porsche 912
Remember Kaer in his video clip, Izinkan Ku Pergi?

Mercedes-Benz W124; An Overengineered Mercedes Benz (taken from: www.wikipedia.com)

Manufacturer Mercedes-Benz
Parent company Daimler-Benz
Production 1984–1995
Assembly Bremen, Germany
Sindelfingen, Germany
Predecessor Mercedes-Benz W123
Successor Mercedes-Benz W210
Class Executive car
Layout Front engine, rear-wheel drivefour-wheel drive /
Engine(s) Petrol/Gasoline engines
2.0L I4 M102
2.0L I4 M111
2.2L I4 M111
2.3L I4 M102
2.6L I6 M103
2.8L I6 M104
3.0L I6 M103
3.0L I6 M104
3.2L I6 M104
3.4L I6 M104
3.6L I6 M104
4.2L V8 M119
5.0L V8 M119
Diesel engines
2.0L I4 OM601
2.5L I5 OM602
2.5L I5 OM605
3.0L I6 OM603

3.0L I6 OM606
Transmission(s) 4-speed automatic
5-speed automatic
4-speed manual
5-speed manual
Wheelbase Saloon & Estate: 110.2 in (2799 mm)
Coupe: 106.9 in (2715 mm)
Length Estate: 188.2 in (4780 mm)
Saloon: 187.2 in (4755 mm)
Coupe: 183.9 in (4671 mm)
Width 68.5 in (1740 mm)
E500 Saloon: 70.7 in (1796 mm)
Height Estate: 59.8 in (1519 mm)
Saloon: 56.3 in (1430 mm)
Coupe: 55.5 in (1410 mm)
Convertible: 54.8 in (1392 mm)
E500 Saloon: 55.4 in (1407 mm)
1988-1990 Saloon: 56.9 in (1445 mm)
4Matic Saloon: 57.1 in (1450 mm)
4Matic Estate: 60.2 in (1529 mm)
Vehicles Mercedes-Benz E-Class

W124 is the Mercedes-Benz chassis code for the 1984 to 1995 version of the E-class flagships. This model replaced the W123 models after 1985 after making its debut in 1984 and were superseded by the W210 E-Class after 1995.

Model range

The W124 is a mid sized luxury vehicle platform. Due to the high cost of German engineer-build-quality, the W124 was designed to last many miles, with awards actually given and worn by high mileage versions (150k, 500k, 1,000,000K). This unique characteristic of ownership explains the surprising number still on the road 15 years after the last one rolled of the assembly lines. Cost cutting became critical in the mid/late 90s as the "no expense spared" over engineered Mercedes-Benz models with a solid construction and the use of quality materials struggled to sell against mass-build Japanese high end cars.
The front suspension is derived from an improvised  McPherson strut where the coil spring is separated from the strut. The rear suspension of the W124 features the Mercedes multi-link axle introduced in 1982 with the Mercedes 190 and which is now standard on many modern cars. Estate cars (and optionally, saloons and coupes) had Citroen-like self-leveling rear suspension with suspension struts rather than shock absorbers, gas-filled suspension spheres to provide damping and an under bonnet pressurizing pump. Unlike the traditional Citroen application Mercedes opted for a fixed ride height and employed rear coil springs to maintain the static ride height when parked
The R129 is based on the W124 platform and not, as is sometimes assumed, on the larger W140.
Much of the 124's engineering and many of its features were advanced automotive technology at its introduction, incorporating innovations that have been adopted throughout the industry.
It had one of the lowest coefficient of drag (Cd) of any vehicle of the time (0.28 for the 200/200D model for European market with 185/65 R15 tires) due to its aerodynamic body, that included plastic molding for the undercarriage to streamline airflow beneath the car, reducing fuel consumption and wind noise. It had a single windscreen wiper that had an eccentric mechanism at its base that extended the wiper's reach to the top corners of the windscreen (more than if it had traveled in a simple arc. The saloon/sedan, coupés and convertibles had optional rear headrests that would fold down remotely to improve rearward visibility when required. This feature was not available for the T-model because of its specific layout (no space to store the retractable headrests), but the station-wagon serially came with a "neighbour-friendly" rear door that was pulled in the shut-position silently and automatically by a sensor-controlled servomotor. With the exception of the 200, which was equipped with a Stromberg or Pierburg carburetor but was not available to the United States, fuel injection was standard, and the engines incorporated features that maximised performance. The most significant feature (over its predecessor the 123 series) was the addition of an oxygen sensor in the exhaust system which, in conjunction with a semi-electronic fuel injection system, could make the engine run more efficiently. Thus producing a better power produced to fuel used ratio and also meeting stricter emission regulations. Mercedes-Benz's four-wheel drive system, the 4matic was first introduced on the W124 in 1986.
But some main innovations of the W124 series were related to occupant safety. Derived from the Mercedes 190 (W201), with whom the W124 shares the basic layout, its likewise edgy body was designed to withstand an offset-crash in a concrete barrier at some 35 mp/h without serious harm to the occupants and a largely undamaged passenger cabin, a windshield that stays in place and doors easily to open without special recovery tools. This crash-test configuration, outstanding in 1984 and developed by Mercedes-Benz from the early 70's on with on-the-spot research to meet more adequately the requirements of accidents occurring in real traffic, became the base for the Euro-NCAP procedure currently being the standard crash-test configuration in the EU. Most remarkably: Unlike Euro-NCAP, Mercedes required the body of the W124 to withstand an offset impact from the front and from the rear. The W124 also featured a drivers side airbag (option in Europe, standard in the US), height-adjustable seat belts with electronic-mechanical pre-tensioneers (standard) for both front passengers, rear seat belts which automatically adapted to the seize of the passengers (standard), pedals that were moved inversely in a frontal impact (away from the drivers feet and in the direction of the bulkhead separating the cabin from the engine) and door arm rests with deformable elements designed to reduce abdominal injury risk resulting from a side impact. The dashboard made of impact-absorbing, artificial foam was reinforced with a thin aluminium layer which effectively prevented hoses, valves, housings and other components from heating and engine from penetrating through the dash board inside the passenger cabin in a severe impact. Also, the passenger glove box featured a defined point of rupture, which considerably reduced the probability of front passenger injuries. Apart from the Mercedes 190, the W124 was the first serially manufactured car in history to see widespread use of light-weight high-strength steels, which today are a standard in car design. From late 1988 on, the W124 was one of the first cars available with a passengers side front-airbag as an option worldwide.
The estate cars (model designation S124) came in 5- or 7-seat models, the 7-seater having a rear-facing bench seat that folded flush luggage compartment cover and an optional (in the US until 1994) retractable cargo net. In the US 7-seat models were standard, 5-seat models were not available. The S124 estate continued in production alongside the new W210 until the S210 estate launched more than a year later. A two-door coupe version was also built, with the model designation C124.
Mercedes launched a cabriolet (convertible) version in Europe in 1991, the 320CE, later re-designated as the E320, later followed by the less powerful, but less expensive E220, and the E 200. Mercedes brought the E320 cabriolet (convertible) to the USA from 1993-1995. There were approximately 7 E36 right-hand drive cabriolets built to complement the also rare E36 coupe, saloon and estate. The E320 and E220 cabriolets ceased production in 1997. The cabriolets remain sought-after second hand vehicles, as one of the few full-size sports convertibles available.
The pre-facelift models from 1986 to 1993 used the model designations: 200/T (carburetor), 200E/TE, 230E/TE, 260E (saloon only), 300-24/TE-24 valve, 300E/TE, 400E (not in the UK), 420E (not in the UK) & 500E (LHD only in the UK). Diesels were the 200D/TD (not in the UK), 250D/TD & the 300D/TD. Face lift models produced from 1993 to 1995/6 used the model designations: E200, E220, E280, E320, E420 (not in the UK) & E500 (LHD only in the UK). In the UK post-facelift diesels were E250 Diesel (saloon only) and E300 Diesel (saloon & estate) models
Ssangyong Group of Company of Korea licensed the W124 design and continues to produce a stretched version of the W124 as the Chairman, with a Ssangyong badge. It has a 2.9 m (110 in) wheelbase and 3.2 L Mercedes straight-6 M104 engine. Chairman currently has 2.3 L (M111), 2.8 L (M104), and 3.2 L (M104) engines in its product line-ups. SsangYong Group of Company has developed a 3.6 L version of M104 engine recently for its high-end Chairman line up. The engine is called XGi360.

500 E

Mercedes also included a sport version of the W124, the 500E, created in close cooperation and assembled by Porsche. It used the 5.0L 32-valve V8  M119 engine based upon the 500SL (R129) roadster, and Porsche engineered the suspension and chassis design with a performance bias.






























Father's Previous Cars

Dad had been using several cars before decided to settle with his current Mercedes Benz 260E. Well, I would like to share with some of the virtual members about the marques he had driven before and today. It might take sometimes but well here it goes….
1. 1974 Opel Manta 1900SR Rallye (JK5454)
jk5454
2. 1980 Mitsubishi Galant Eterna
3.  1980 Mazda 626 4 Speed
4. 1982 Mazda 626 5 speed
5. 1977 BMW 320i (the car below has the identical colour like it but this is not the exact car)

6. 1984 Volvo 240GL
me-besides-dads-car
7. 1983 Mercedes Benz 230E Automatic
1984-mercedes-benz-230e-w1238. 1991 Honda Accord 2.0 EXi

9. 1989 BMW 520i (Converted to 525i)
img_0002
10.  1991 Mercedes Benz 260E
mix-n-muddle-356

Mercedes Benz That Was Formerly Used By Malaysia IGP (1973-1992)

1968-mercedes-benz-250-21 This car was formerly used by Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Hashim the third IGP. It's a 1969 W114 Mercedes Benz 250. The colour of this maginificent car is light yellow and red MB Tex interior. He was shot inside this car on his way back to his house in 1973 however, this car had been restored and repaired.
three-mercedes-benz The white Mercedes Benz is a 1974 230.6 and it was used by the longest serving IGP, Tun Haniff Omar. This car is a bullet proof car prior with the tragic demise of Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Hashim in 1973.  This car is a very heavy car prior with its extra thick glass. The photo below shows the interior of the  bullet proof car.1973-mercedes-benz-2306
During his office terms as the IGP, he also received a 1982 Mercedes 250 as his official car. The car is like brand new car and very well maintained.
1982-mercedes-250
I am glad and proud to own one when seeing these.

Me, Myself and Her

1 May 2010

NZ Wheels Family Day 2010

Remembering My Best Friend; My Grandmother