As part of the Great Singapore Sales (GSS) promotion, Orchard Central (OC) has come up with a theme called 'A Classic GSS affair'. According to the management of the shopping centre, OC enters a world of vintage charm with car boot sales with a vintage twist.

Along with the theme, OC displayed two classic cars along the walkway of the shopping mall. These are the Porsche 912 Coupe and the Lancia Fulvia RS. As a car enthusiast, I was naturally more interested in these classics rather than what is on sale in OC.

The Porsche 912 is a sports car that was manufactured by the German supercar maker between 1965 and 1969 as their entry-level model. The 912 is a nimble-handling compact performance four-seat vehicle, delivering 90bhp at 5800 rpm from a 2.0-litre flat-4 power plant.

It is capable of returning a fuel economy of up to 7.8L/100km (or 12.8km/L). A variant of the 911, one of the most famous and successful sports cars of all time, the 912 initially outsold the 911, boosting the manufacturer's total production until success of the 911 was assured.

Styling, performance, quality construction, reliability, and price made the 912 a very attractive buy to both new and old customers. Porsche produced nearly 30,000 912 coupe units and about 2500 912 Targa body style during its five year production run. The Porsche 912 has also proven successful as a race car.

The Lancia Fulvia is an Italian car introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1963 and produced through 1976. Fulvias are notable for their role in automobile racing history, including winning the International Rally Championship in 1972.

Road & Track called the Fulvis as a "a precision motorcar, an engineering tour de force" in a review of the car in 1967. What caught my attention is that the car was actually powered by a V4 engine when most engines of the bent configuration usually have 6 or 8 cylinders.

The engine has a DOHC design with a one camshaft operating all intake valves and another operating all exhaust valves. The engine was initially offered with a 1091cc capacity and was enlarged to 1298cc later on. This raised the output from 71bhp to 87-92bhp. The car is often used for track days at Sepang and Pasir Gudang.

If you are a fan of classic cars, do make your way down to OC before they are gone. Old school's cool !