Cape Town – A group of Cape petrolheads put in the long miles recently in what became a commitment to the scene that took them on memorable travels.
The event was the enigmatically named Lovemore Stance campover, an initiative put together by Port Elizabeth's Morné Piet, Caryn Kivido and Lyle Benjamin at Victoria Park in the windy city.
We spoke to Piet, as well as a couple of Cape drivers who attended; the consensus was that this was a weekend of note, one enthusiast even going so far as to say that, in his opinion, the Stance scene had now moved to Port Elizabeth.
Interesting
Quinton Roberts of lowering company Q-Beams added: “The interesting thing is that in Port Elizabeth they all roll static; the law is not strict the way it is in Cape Town, where we have to inflate the airbags whenever we get stopped. In PE it’s down to the essentials.”
Jade Rhode, 27, took his sky-blue 1961 VW Beetle (also lowered by Q-Beams on airlift with a 20 litre tank) to the campover.
"Lovemore Stance was one of the best shows ever," he said. "The hospitality was hundreds, my brother.”
Highlight
His and three other cars were taken to Uitenhage by truck and they drove them back home. Rhodes said the drive back to the Cape was a highlight, because “there were no breakdowns, no leaks, and all of us came home without problems”.
Apart from the suspension kit, Rhode has tried to keep his Beetle as original as possible, as he doesn’t want to change much.
"It’s very nice as it is, my brother.”
One of the most rewarding aspects for Rhode was the opportunity to meet, face to face, many people he had “met” on Facebook; Roberts agreed, saying: “You’d walk past some people and recognise them from social media.”
Convenor Morné Piet said: "This is the third year of the show, but it was our first campover; it will get better. We had about 150 cars and, interestingly, about half the pre-registrations were from Cape Town.”
That doesn’t surprise us; after all, the Cape has a high degree of commitment, spirit and sheer skill when it comes to the custom car scene.
Piet continued: “We did have a competition, yes, with awards for the top 20 Stance cars, but this event was more of a get-together and a party. We had a stretch tent, a stage and DJs, so we partied – it was a mix of good music, friendly people and great cars.”
“It was really a success, we will be doing it again.”
Rhode went on: “There were representatives from all the major cities there and there was no trouble whatsoever, no bad reviews. The whole of PE and Uitenhage was there, the scene is big that side.”
Dream
Rhode, who started his custom car career with a Toyota Tazz (also modified by Q-Beam), said he was building his dream car – a 1969 VW Variant, which would be "coming soon" to the Cape scene.
Roberts said he started out doing VW Beetle suspension but got his big break when Tariq from Capestance asked him to drop his Mercedes – which caused quite a stir on the custom scene about two years ago.
“After doing the Mercedes on air," he said, "people started noticing my work, and asking me to help them with their projects.”
At that time it was all static, he said; the move to airbags gathered momentum, however, when a couple of influential customisers made the shift to pressure.
For all the Cape petrolheads, if you’re wondering whether to go the distance when this event cones up next year, remember that there is nothing better than getting the result of all your commitment, hard cash and even harder work out on the road, cleaning the pipes out, so to speak.
And if you’re still not convinced, Roberts has this to add: “The nightlife in PE is great; all the car people get together and they party. Let me tell you, I’ll be back."