The golden-hearted petrolheads

By Destine Nde

I am often astonished by the creative and positive attitudes of some South Africans. Amidst the ugly politicking, the bad governance and the poor service delivery, they are still able not only to remain positive, but to organise or support events that improve the country and the lives of its citizens.

Take the Nuts & Bolts Rally, for example: One man loves buying old cars and repairing them. He then takes the car on a long test drive, to discover all its faults and foibles.

Then he asks himself: ‘But why do this alone? Why not invite others with the same passion to join me, so that in case there’s a breakdown or a punctured tyre in the middle of nowhere, I wouldn’t be alone? I’d have people to help and keep me company. That way, it’ll be more fun.’

That is how the Nuts & Bolts Rally began, back in 2014, and started by one Pieter Anderson. For 10 years now, it has attracted hundreds of classic car lovers from around the country. Every year, these ‘petrolheads’ go on four ‘epic road trips around South Africa’. The cars are not necessarily classic or vintage — they only have to be older than 1990. All the proceeds from the tours are used to support charitable causes.

According to Anderson, the tours are a metaphor for the challenges faced by charitable organisations, notably uncertainty. This is exactly what the drivers experience on the long, bumpy roads — uncertain of whether the engines will  run until end, whether their tyres will last on gravel roads, and whether they will make it to the next filling station.

Just as every driver seeks to surmount these difficulties and complete the rally, so too the Nuts & Bolts Rally seeks to ensure that every charity organisation it has selected — among then, the United Cerebral Palsy Association of South Africa and the Smile Foundation — continues to survive and thrive –This is why the participants are referred to as the Golden-hearted petrolheads’.

The Garden Route Rally took place from 18-21 March. Willowmore was their main host, in partnership with Revive Willowmore. On 17 March about 50 classic cars arrived in Willowmore, and converged on the showgrounds for a ‘meet and greet’, including a braai. The tables were decorated with old engine parts. One could feel the excitement building up.

On 18 March, the ‘epic road trip’ began. Traffic officers led the convoy of classic cars through and out of the town. The streets were lined with smiling and waving spectators. All the cars were decorated, and their drivers wore crazy costumes and hairstyles, which added to the spectacle.

 

They returned to Willowmore that evening. All the guest houses and especially the Royal Hotel were fully booked. The happy, cheerful and vivacious drivers certainly brought the town to life.

The same happened the next day, on the 19^th. On the 20^th, I spoke with the two-times winners of the rally, namely Shane Holder, Andrew Green-Wood and Oom Heyes. This was at Pieter Viljoen’s garage, directly opposite Kapoet Restaurant on the main street. Andrew and Shane explained:

The rally is actually all about test-driving cheap old cars from place to place. If a car breaks down on the road, everyone stops to either assist or wait until the broken car can get back on the road. And all the money we generate goes to charity and schools.

‘Every driver is provided with a “goody bag”. When we arrive in town, we buy gifts and put them in the bags, then donate them to certain groups in the town. We’ve donated ‘Goody bags’ to two charities, and spent a lot of money in Willowmore’.

The number of participants is capped at 100, and cars can have from one to three drivers. And who wins? It’s simple, actually. ‘At the end, everyone votes for the car they liked the best.’ Given that it has won twice, I thought their car would be special, and so it turned out: it’s a 1982 Mercedes 280 SE limousine.

Shane also told me that there are four rallies every year, along the Garden Route, a Northern Route, a  Southern Route, and the West Coast. He also mentioned that Pieter Anderson, the rally’s founder, lives and works in the UK, but flies in for each rally. We can all learn a lot from these guys.