Eyes on the prize: King of the Lot event produced a top tier collection
TOP PRIZE: Waseem Parker bagged King of the Lot title with his kwaai yellow Toyota GT 86
Last weekend saw a kwaai collection of cabbies descend on the Hirsch’s parking lot for another event hosted by Cape Town engine importers Mike’s Place.
Bobby Nitro spoke to Dale Sauls, the Mike’s Place digital marketing guy and organiser, about the idea behind the venture, called King of the Lot, which featured a rev off, limbo, show ‘n shine, race car display and 4x4s.
Dale says: “There are many events that specialise in one form of motorsport or another, and the aim of our day was to bring together the many different aspects of petrolkop interests.
“So we had motorsport cars, show ‘n shine cars, stance guys, all together in one.”
The turnout he describes as being great, saying: “Every time I’m blown away, and there are new cars I’ve not seen on the scene before turning up.”
One new car was a Hilux belonging to Antionette Adriaanse from Atlantis. The 2006 Hilux V6 recently got a makeover by Siraaj from Auto Torque, and it won top honours as Queen of the Lot. The rad thing is that this was the very first show she had ever entered with the bakkie.
Antionette tells Bobby: “The funny thing is that when we arrived at the event I told my husband that I felt something was going to happen that day.”
When asked what it was like to get the prize, she replies: “It was so exciting, I don’t even know what to say.”
The bakkie was completed in February and features a comfy lounge set up in the back, complete with satin red cushions and a big screen TV in a custom box with speakers alongside. Antionette says: “That part of the makeover was a complete surprise organized by my husband.
Antionette adds that her bakkie’s name is Beach Boy, after her late father’s DJ name, and the name he was known by in the Mamre community where he played most of his gigs. She says: “He loved music and that’s why my husband surprised me with the lounge setup, as it fits so well with my father’s legacy.”
The King of the Lot title was taken by Waseem Parker, 23, and his canary yellow wide body GT86. Usually powered by a Subaru two-litre mill, Waseem opted the change that out for the popular Toyota 2jz, which lends itself nicely to various performance modifications that have brought Waseem a comfortable 300kW and 500Nm.
He says: “I really didn’t expect it, there were so many cool cars on the lot. What chose the 2jz mainly for the power and of course the sound. The Rocket Bunny body kit has been smoothed nicely for a flawless join.”
Waseem says the 86 is his dream car, and this is in fact his second. What he likes the most is the looks of the car, saying: “It’s not a supercar, but it does have the character of one, the look and feel.”
On that thought, when the Toyota 86 came out back in 2013, it was heralded as an affordable Porsche-killer.
Dale says: “This was the first of many King of the Lot events we have planned. With the partnership with Hirch’s, we saw exhibits including Hi-Sense, LG and Phillips, which you don’t usually see as car shows.
“In addition, there were many local motorsports names there such as CPi tuning, Harvel SA, Sticky Lego, Auto Torque Customz, Fury Auto Sport, Eunique Printing & Creations and Simply Panel.
He adds: “Besides bringing cool prizes, the participating businesses helped lift out event from park-off to a fully fledged car show.”