350+ Photos From Retro Havoc Malaysia 2024

Owning and building a car in Malaysia isn’t cheap or easy, but despite those hurdles, the scene is still huge. For over 10 years now, Alie Kuoppa, Farah Darlings and their team behind Retro Havoc have done their bit by bringing Malaysia’s modified and custom car enthusiasts together with well-organized events.

In other countries, the notion of tens of thousands of petrolheads congregating at a show would be seen as an opportunity for police crackdowns, but not here. Retro Havoc has the full support of the Malaysian government, which sees the events as opportunities to help grow the local automotive industry and, from a tourism perspective, bring in visitors from all over the world. And they come.

The 2024 event was once again held on the B2 level of The Curve’s underground carpark in Selangor. This is a great spot, with all the room required for the car displays, plus parking for everyone and a shopping mall above for any friends and family members who want some time out during the show.

As always, a small outdoor showcase the evening before the main event was used to officially kick off the festivities. The lineup included Retro Havoc’s bright pink Devil Z – now with a new RB25 powerplant – two Toyota Cressidas – one powered by a 1UZ-FE V8 and the other a Century V12 – a Pandem-kitted RX-8, a refreshed Tamon Design FC3S RX-7, and a BWW E36 M3 inspired by the Need for Speed Most Wanted hero car.

In planning the event, Alie decided to limit show car registrations to a lower number than in recent years. A 900-car cap was decided upon, but overwhelming demand saw the number quickly blow out. Not that anyone was complaining. It’s a great endorsement, and one that shows just how hyped the Malaysian car community is for this event.

But it’s not just Malaysians attending with their cars. Once again, a large contingent of enthusiasts made the trip from Thailand. Driving from Malaysia’s border to the Retro Havoc venue is over 700km (435mi) alone, and it is not an easy journey at the best of times. So making the drive in highly modified cars like it’s nothing is just insane. Hat’s off to these Thai guys and girls for their commitment.

There were plenty of cars at the event deserving of a closer look, and Toby has a number of follow-up stories planned to tick that box. The ‘Motor Maniac St’ section was packed with wild builds, including a number based on locally-made Proton Satrias.

The red Satria is a heavily modified track weapon that can often be seen lapping Sepang International Circuit; the black Satria is another track car, though still under construction.

Drifting is big in Malaysia, and there are plans afoot for an international event later in the year, which will only increase its popularity in this part of the world. I loved this LS V8-swapped S15 Nissan Silvia Varietta.

The Proton Saga is another ultra-popular Malaysian car, 99.9% of which you’ll find in stock standard condition. These stance examples are not; how good do they look?!

Before visiting Malaysia I had never even heard of the Mazda Lantis, known as the 323 and Astina in other markets. While other countries got the model with a 2.0L V6 option, Malaysia didn’t, so all the cars here with V6 power under the hood have been engine swapped.

I’ve been lucky enough to attend Retro Havoc a few times now, and it’s always a wild ride – especially during the ‘Roll Out Party’ at the end of the event. There is so much passion for car culture in Malaysia, and that’s reflected in the sheer size of this event.

While it is not easy being a car enthusiast in Malaysia, as long as there are events like Retro Havoc around to entertain and inspire, the local scene has a bright future.

Stay tuned for many more stories from the 2024 show. In the meantime, there is huge gallery below for you to check out.

Rick Muda
Instagram: ardskellig