Inside content creator Naomi Neo’s high-octane ‘car’ playroom with a $10k racing simulator

SINGAPORE – On the top floor of Singaporean content creator and beauty entrepreneur Naomi Neo’s bungalow in western Singapore sits a room filled with things that make her happy: more than 100 model cars, a custom retro arcade machine and, most recently, a racing simulator worth about $10,000.

When her family moved into the three-storey house in end-2022, this open area contained little more than a sofa.

It was part of a living level in the multi-generational home she shares with her businessman husband, their two children – son Kyzo, eight, and daughter Zyla, five – and her in-laws.

Then Neo’s model-car collection started growing.

“I had a bunch of toy cars displayed here and there, and (there was) a bit more day by day,” she says. “I was like, okay, it’s time to actually create a space.”

Today, it is the 30-year-old’s favourite area in her eight-room abode, although “calling it ‘my space’ may be a stretch, as Kyzo’s toy cars have found their way upstairs”. The toy cars have become part of her display collection – but on the floor, she says with a laugh.

Cars have been in Neo’s orbit since her childhood. Her father was a Formula 1 fan, and she remembers attending her first F1 race at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit with him and her late grandfather when she was younger than 10.

Like her dad, Neo is a Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team supporter, although she admits to feeling a bit conflicted since her favourite driver, Briton Lewis Hamilton, moved to Ferrari.

“I’m a Lewis fan, but I support Mercedes,” she says. “Team-wise, still Mercedes.”

Neo plans to attend the Singapore Grand Prix, which will be held in October. She says she has not missed the Singapore race for about five years.

Her interest in cars really took off only after she got her driving licence in 2018.

“In the past, my liking used to be about the aesthetics,” she says. “In the last two to three years, it’s transitioned more into the drive – how it feels.”

The turning point came in 2024, when a Porsche media event introduced her to kart racing. She loved the adrenaline and sound, and began entering races herself.

In 2026, she has gone “full on”, racing karts almost every month. She owns two karts, kept at a circuit in Johor Bahru, and practises there at least once a week – and up to two or three times a week before a race.

Karting is not the end goal. Neo has also done two time attacks – timed runs in which drivers compete against the clock rather than race wheel to wheel – on full-sized tracks in 2026 and hopes to move into car racing eventually.

Beyond the playroom, three cars are parked in her porch – a midnight purple BMW M4 Competition Coupe (G82), a yellow Ferrari F8 Spider and her favourite “Cinnamoroll” Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4.

But for family duties, she usually hops into the Toyota Alphard, preferring a model she does not mind the children eating and playing in.

The ride she dreams of owning is a Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 in midnight purple, and the only one she can get hold of now is a model of it.

Her taste has increasingly shifted towards classic Japanese performance cars and the rawness of older machines. She is even converting her Class 3A licence so she can drive a manual transmission car.

Design details

The $10,000 racing simulator: An ‘investment’ in speed

The newest – and largest – “toy” in Neo’s room is a fully customised racing simulator worth about $10,000 that she bought in August.

The rig was tailored to her height – she is about 1.5m tall – and seating position, with the movement and driving feel adjusted to suit her.

Most of the components were imported from Chinese sim-racing brand Simagic, while the entire set-up was professionally assembled and customised for her by a fellow racing enthusiast who also competes.

For now, Neo has mainly the Sepang racing simulator loaded into the system because she purchased it with a specific purpose: to practise as she works towards doing more racing on full-sized tracks. She eventually hopes to add an F1 simulator as well, which would require another steering wheel.

“I bought it because I saw it as an investment,” she says. “And also because it adds to the look of the space.”

The Ferrari F40: A father-daughter legacy in 1:18 scale

One of Neo’s favourite car models is a 1:18-scale Ferrari F40 from her father’s collection, which she first clapped eyes on as a kid. She even has a tattoo of an F40 on her right upper arm.

She says: “I’ve always wanted it, and he did not want to give it to me for the longest time.”

She adds: “The car is in that bashed-up condition (because) Kyzo got his hands on it when he was a toddler and, you know, boys and toy cars.”

The custom arcade: A childhood she wants her son to inherit

The retro arcade game cabinet from local gaming company RetroCade was commissioned as a birthday gift for Kyzo in 2025 – although Neo admits she “selfishly” also wanted it to be in this space.

She had the graphics customised with race cars on the front and her son’s favourite cartoon characters, such as Pokemon, Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario Bros, on the sides. It comes preloaded with hundreds of classic games, including her favourite, Street Fighter.

“Nowadays, it’s iPhone games or your PS5,” she says. “I wanted him to experience something different.”

Kyzo’s enthusiasm for the machine has waned, but Neo thinks he may appreciate it more when he is older – like how she now values the things from her childhood.