2020 feels like it’s gone completely MIA.
It seems like just the other day that it was January and the year was off to a great start. Then COVID-19 struck, and the months in between have been an utter blur, most of it spent locked down at home, not being able to do the stuff we all really like to do.
For some people, not going to a bar or club was a pain. Others just wanted to go see a movie or head out to a restaurant for a meal. But for petrol-heads like you and I, all we wanted to do was get in our cars and go for a drive.
While some countries remain in varying stages of lockdown or are entering new ones, here in South Africa our restrictions have finally started to lift. Currently, it feels like life is back to as normal as it can be in COVID times, with social distancing and masks still being factors of course.
We also still have a curfew between 12:00am and 4:00am, but regardless of that, people can now finally get out and about. Gatherings are allowed as long as it’s not a massive crowd in one place.
A few nights ago, the guys from JDM Certified in Johannesburg took full opportunity of these relaxed conditions by hosting a night run and meet. The formula was simple: Meet at a garage with a large parking area, chill for a while, talk a whole bunch of nonsense about cars, see people you haven’t for a while, and then take a cruise together on the highway. A very large contingent of cars showed up; so many that the entrance to the garage was blocked for quite some while.
This garage had some of the worst lighting ever, making it a challenge to shoot decent photos. Most of the time I was sitting at 12800ISO for f2.0 and 1/25th-of-a-second exposures – for any of you that might appreciate that kind of info.
While the meet was aimed at JDM machines, of course a few other cars snuck in, like this pretty cool looking VW Jetta Mk2.
With most automotive events still dead in the water here, you can’t really blame these guys for joining in, and no one seemed to mind at all.
This Mk2 Nissan Sentra really caught my attention. Sitting on air-ride and running a set of old school Work VS S5S wheels, it was so clean.
It’s not a GT-R, but this R32 Nissan Skyline GTS-T looked good sitting nice and low. Parked next to it at the garage was a 2JZ-powered Cressida that was boosted all night long during the highway cruise.
Honda CR-X Del Sols are quite a rare sight in South Africa, and probably most other places around the world now that they’re approaching 30 years old. I’ve always had a soft spot for these things; they just look so good dropped over a decent set of wheels. Who’s with me?
After the garage, everyone headed off for some cruising on the main Johannesburg highway, giving me a good chance to hang out the side of my VW Caddy’s side door and grab some rollers. Some people then hit up another spot, but I called it a night.
Right now we’re living in a world where big car events might still be some time away, but as this JDM Certified meet proved, something as simple as a cruise with like-minded people is all you really need.
Stefan Kotzé
Instagram: stefankotzemedia
info@stefankotze.com
www.stefankotze.com
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Great night, fantastic bunch of people.
Cant wait for the next one.
#primera the only one.
Are all the Botswana plates a way to avoid paying for speeding fines?
Nope, these cars are destined for our neighbouring countries
Epic, I miss these runs, hopefully we will see more coming into 2020
There better be a crap ton of meets that are covered in 2021 please
There's bound to be from all the catch-up meets that'll happen.
I am making a fair pay from home $3400-$4700/week, which is shocking, under a year back I was jobless in a horrendous economy. I offer thanks toward God reliably I was regarded with these bearings and now it's my commitment to give preemptive grace and offer it with Everyone........works79.com
Great
Man this is a really cool meet!
Sick meet, great pics and content
I am. It shares all the drivetrain and suspension of the EG Civic and DC Integra but just quirky enough to be unique. I've owned my 1994 Si since 2000.
@Stefan, do you reckon you could track down the Mines Evo somehow? That would be a cool feature! So good to see meets slowly being allowed back into our life and thank you for covering what you have available.
South Africa
Durban
JDM
Not going to lie I was expecting you to show us where we as SA citizens are not allowed to go.
For those who want to hear a story ,one full of wtf's and also a sad one- then this is that
...
Durban is Africas biggest port and also a port where Japanese used and new (rare occasion) car dealers send their vehicles to.
If you enter their cbd (run-down sadly) in the first 10 seconds you will spot a car carrier with cars ranging from Mugen CRV's to weird and wonderful name badges that after ten times trying to say it ,it still sounds different.
I am from a town a few thousand km's away so going to Durban is always amazing as Japanese car enthusiast,but here comes the sad bit.
There are close to a thousand of these hole in the wall dodgy Japanese car sales places in Durban owned by mainly foreigners who will not allow South African citizens to even set foot into these "showrooms" (used loosely).
I need to first explain something,SA does not allow these low mileage better equipped than our brand new crappy cars on our roads as it is direct competition to our local car sale numbers (i dont want to bore anyone with the legalities) according to authorities who allow taxis that are falling to pieces to carry people around and expect our taxi owners to purchase new Quantums (Hi-aces) that are priced ridiculously which forces these taxi owners to drive their Vehicles until the body panels fall off (literally).
Anyway back to the topic which is kinda off topic but a little relevant, these Japanese Vehicles are sold to our neighbouring countries (Botswana; Namibia; Zimbabwe; Lesotho; Swaziland; to name a few ) and some do end up in SA through many who have citizenship in one of the bordering countries but work and reside in SA and sometimes they get to register these cars which we can buy and sometimes we just buy it and keep it on their names or sometimes ...
Maybe Stefan can do an article on this as you guys will be shocked to see what enters our country only to leave in a matter of weeks to get abused and neglected by the state of the roads in our neighbouring countries.
SO great article Stefan,but when i saw your Landing picture I shouted internally "Finally someone touching on this topic" ... Missed opportunity or it could be something you could look into, fake I.D and maybe you get in.