Few manufacturers can boast a step-change in product offering as monumental as Volkswagen can with the launch of its Golf back in ’74. A switch from the air-cooled rear-engined and chassis-based format that defined the much-loved Beetle to a transverse-engined, front-wheel-drive monocoque hatchback was about…
South African manufacturers have a long and proud history of building road-going homologation specials that allowed humble family cars to become winners on the race track. In the 1970s, this often meant shoehorning hulking great motors into small saloons. But Mazda, who was already a…
The famous Porsche badge is rightfully synonymous with rear-engined, air-cooled entertainment but that association – which is undoubtedly flawed in some respects – was arguably so deep it came at the expense of one of Stuttgart’s finest designs.
Durban has always been famous for its laid-back atmosphere, its clean beaches and its hospitable citizens. For 123 years the city has served all three in rickshaws – or rickshas – and the men who’ve pulled them throughout the 20th century. There’s some disagreement about…
Toyota Corolla, the go-to choice for the majority of Uber drivers. Makes sense considering they are practical people carriers, well priced, reliable and enjoy brilliant spares and back-up service. And the negatives? Well… a bit too common, to be honest, with a hint of boring.…
In 2015 Mercedes-Benz announced that, with the South African, Australian and Latin American markets in mind, it would be adding a luxury pick-up to its model offerings. This came to fruition in 2017 with the launch of the X-Class, essentially a facelifted and badge-engineered Nissan…
BMW is a brand known for sleek silhouettes, powerful performance and subtly-luxurious-yet-never-ostentatious models – the ultimate in German understated brilliance. But in the late ʼ80s, there was an unexpected and rather startling addition to the Bavarian family… one that made people do actual double takes…
The people’s car. A vehicle that mobilised the masses by offering simplicity, practicality and affordable pricing. The Germans churned out the VW Beetle, the French the Citroën 2CV, the Brits the Mini and the Italians upgraded many of their population from Vespas and Lambrettas into…
You can’t beat the French when it comes to radical automotive engineering, as anyone who’s driven a Citroën DS will attest. But even that famously avant-garde marque surprised its own fans when it married hydro-pneumatic engineering with Italian power to create a futuristic GT coupé…
What was the fastest road-legal Ford sold in South Africa in June 1980? You might think it was the big-engined XR6 or even a local special with a V8 shoehorned under the bonnet of a tame saloon but it was, in fact, a 1600 Sport…