Nee Hao Magazine has had hundreds of e-mails asking why we don’t have a car section. After doing some head scratching we tracked down Japanese car specialist and businessman Albert Wong to help us with ‘kicking off’ the car section. He gives us an insight into his background, job and his love of cars.

Albert Wong is British born and owns Knight Racer a garage in Milton Keynes which specialises in servicing and modifying cars particularly Japanese ones. He started this business while still doing his final year at university in London. He loves fast cars and is a gym fanatic too.

How long have you been in the business of cars?

7 years

What sort of services do your company provide and what cars do you specialise in?

We are a performance styling company, specialising in Carbon Fibre and FRP products for Japanese Performance cars, mainly Skylines (R32, R33, R34 & R35) and Supras. We stock parts for Civics, Scoobies, Evos and Pulsars. We are one of the largest stockists of Japanese performance body kits and one of the largest stockists of Carbon Aero kits for the new R35 GTR. We are also specialists in Show Car builders and professionals in custom bodywork which is why customers from all over the UK come to us for work on their cars. We have a few celebrities who buy from us too, for example television and radio presenter Vernon Kay. And of course we provide a special service for the Local Chinese community in terms of vehicle servicing, MOT and mechanical repairs. With my family being one of the first generation Chinese families in Milton Keynes, getting to know the Chinese community here is kinda natural and compulsory.

How did you get into this business?

My Business partner Joe and myself imported our own skylines a few years back and found it incredibly difficult to source anything for it. So since we had some contacts overseas, we decided to import our own. What started out as a hobby  turned into a full time business. Starting from my garage as the store room we started to market and promote our business in online car forums, with our fast delivery times, friendly customer service and dedication, this allowed us to move premises 4 times and now we hold over £100k worth of stock at any given time, this means  we can offer a next day delivery service on most of the listed products. We also have a showroom for customers to see and try the products before they buy, something that most competitors cannot offer as most do not hold a lot of stock.

What’s a typical day for you?

I generally get into the office just before 9 am, order processing and distribution of work is the first task for the day. General paperwork takes up until lunchtime. Obviously the sales line rings throughout the day which I answer myself too. Routine checks on workshop and bodyshop throughout the day, and then I leave the office around 6ish if all goes to plan.
Outside of work, I go to the gym 5 days a week for an hour. I like going to restaurants and eat out a lot. Weekends and evenings you’ll most likely find me at the bars in central Milton Keynes. And Sunday is a day of rest for me.

How much do you have to spend to modify an average looking car to make it look good and faster?

hmm.. this can be very difficult to answer. Take my R33 GTSt as an example, it’s a very common Japanese  turbo car, I bought it for around £7k a few years ago, spent around £25k on it, but it does have over 550bhp, a full customised leather interior, full ice install, full body kit, lots of carbon and a customer paint job mixed by myself in house.

My customers (say either a Supra or a Skyline) typically spend around £5-6k with me on a full body kit and respray with some nice carbon goodies, the finish will come out show car quality. Saying that  you can just spend a few hundred pounds with some quality and tasteful products which will enhance your car on the subtle side, one of the perks of the job
Finally….

Do you think having a nice car makes it easier to attract the opposite sex?

hmm… from personal experience.. yes and no, but generally, I would say yes!
If you want to contact Albert for any advice regarding cars go to http://www.KnightRacer.com/