Tag Archives: cars

Cars at Cavendish

Cars at Cavendish
It was much like a magnet. There really was no stopping me from descending to the ground floor in the busy Cavendish Square mall to take a look at the bright red Audi R8 on display. It sure is beautiful.

While we have our fair share of Maseratis, Ferraris, Porches and Lamborginis racing around our fair city, they're really not as common as they are in European or American cities - so you may say that I'm just a smidgen deprived. ;)

Ford Mustang 289

Ford Mustang 289
I found this beauty (a Ford Mustang 289) parked in the underground parking lot behind the (awesome) Aston Martin dealership at the V&A Waterfront. It's an arty photo, but isn't she beautiful? Wouldn't you love to take a ride in her?

Peninsula trip “stop” 4: Camps Bay

Peninsula trip stop 3: The V&A Waterfront
By the time we hit the Camps Bay part of our Peninsula trip I realised that we were running out if time pretty quickly and it would be impossible to make time to stop for a walk on Camps Bay beach. The weather was (as you can see) pretty much perfect for a day at the beach, but we had bigger birds to fry, so we headed off along Victoria Road in the direction of Hout Bay.

The good old Kombi

The good old Kombi
Remember these old VW Kombi's? Can you imagine how many things this one has seen, and how many stories this one could tell? It sure looks like it has a long history of memories attached to the neglected paintwork, rusty spots, and worn-out interior. :)

Rusted old cars at the Wijnland Auto Museum

Rusted old cars
In September 2009 I shared a photo of a car in the Wijnland Auto Museum and vowed that I'd return with a group to take a plethora of photos. It's taken until now, but indeed, I returned with a group of photographers and had a spectacular few hours shooting pics to my heart's content.

As mentioned in that article, the museum is open to the public from 10am to 4pm each day, and entrance still costs R50. The owner is very friendly and happy to leave you to do your thing or (if you prefer) explain the history of almost every car on his property. He really has an astounding collection - and it's really worth visiting.

Land Rover, the best 4×4 for Africa-trips?

Land Rover, the best 4x4 for Africa-trips?
My Toyota-bigot friends would contest and suggest that the Land Cruiser is the best 4x4 to use in Africa. While I'd probably not win a technical motoring argument, there's good reason to argue that Landy's are the best 4x4 for tripping into deepest Africa.

Land Rovers have been so pervasive in Africa over the last 20 or 30 years that finding desperately needed spare parts on old broken-down Landy is very likely - even in the remotest of African villages. The same cannot be said for modern, albeit awesome, 4x4s. What that says for the Land Rover's durability is an arguing point that my Toyota friends would certainly pose, but in reality it's true, any vehicle is prone to failing at some point and it's undeniable that having a ready supply of old parts is always super-useful.

That said, I'd probably rather road-trip though Africa in a comfy new 4x4 and fork out the money for a satellite phone than take a 4,000km trip in one of these rattle-traps. :)

Parked cars and narrow roads

Parked cars and narrow roads
Green Point is a fairly old part of the city, so its roads tend to be wide enough - most of the time. I've noticed though that areas developed in the last 10 or 15 years are sometimes so narrow that it's actually not possible to park a car in the road with enough space for another to pass by.

Fortunately Kerry-Anne and I live in a suburb that was built when 1000 square metre plots and super-wide roads were the norm. I'd hate to live in modern security estates with their narrow roads and uniform housing.

Sit, relax, and observe

Hiding
I know it sounds a little stalker, but I really enjoy sitting on the pavement (sidewalk) taking photos of random things and random people.

A friend recently said that a great form of exercise (for a photographer) is just to sit, relax, and observe without a camera in the hand. So, next time you're out taking photos and you feel as though there's nothing interesting to shoot, consider taking an extended break to just sit, relax, and observe - you're sure to find the most interesting photos.

Red ‘n black Beetle

Red 'n black Beetle
Seeing this iconic South African-student car, the VW Beetle, reminded me of a conversation that I had with a friend about the brownish-red Cochineal beetle.

The Cochineal beetle is a beetle farmed in South America and used to produce a natural red dye. For me the depressing thing about the use of the beetle as a colourant isn't as much that they die, it's more how they're killed. I won't go into the detail here, but read the article if you're interested to know. We humans really don't play nice some times.

For reference, manufacturers use the names "cochineal extract", "carmine", "crimson lake", "natural red 4", "C.I. 75470", "E120" to indicate that this beetle was used in the production of their red soft drinks, sweets, or makeup.

Speeding fines and the Demerit Points System

Maserati
A friend of ours bought one of these babies a few months ago - and oh my, it's an amazing beast of a car. He took us for a quick drive and, to be honest, the car had more of a superbike feel than the feel of a car. The roar of the engine, the sequential gear box, the acceleration and how close you feel to the the road is quite unlike anything else I've ever driven in.

The problem of course is the matter of speeding fines - and the other (and more serious) issue of the soon-to-be-introduced Demerit Points System. Under this system, whenever a traffic offence is committed a point will be awarded to the offender. Unfortunately, it's not the kind of point you're going to do the dance of joy over. An offender's license is suspended for three months once they exceed 12 points. That's serious stuff, considering our less-than-ideal public transport system.

Every three months a point is subtracted from one's balance - reinstating the license when the number of points reach 12. The thing is, if a license is suspended three times it's automatically cancelled. Now that's serious stuff!