Travel to another land and if you’re car a person, you’ll immediately notice that the metal tapestry weaved upon their roads is not like ours. I certainly did the moment I crossed the border into Lesotho where immediately I was greeted with box-shaped Nissans and Toyotas I’d never seen before, save for on the internet.
Which led me to wonder, what is it about our blend of cars that makes a South African road so unique? These are not the fifteen best cars sold in South Africa. They’re not necessarily South African specials nor are they the halo model of their litter, rather simply they are synonymous with our fine country and the folk who live in it.
1 Opel Kadett
And by this I mostly mean the T-Car, our Cub shape which spawned all manners of vehicles, but most notably the GSI and especially the Superboss. Elsewhere it’s a Vauxhall.
2 Ford Cortina
There were hotter Cortinas than the infamous 30S such as the XR6 and Interceptor, but it is the Everyman 30S that you’ll find in every suburb. A car that still inspires lust today.
3 Ford Escort
Pick a style - the peanut shaped Mk 1 or smoothed-over Mk 2 were both rear wheel driven icons. The Mk 3, especially in XR3 guise may have gone FWD but the lot of them British icons were made popular in Mzansi.
4 Toyota Conquest
The AE82 series of Corollas were all given a hot version RSI – a 4AGE Twincam heart in a wedge-shaped body. And we loved them all.
5 Every VW Golf
No really, from the Citi to the VR6, we snapped them all up and continue to do so. For maximum kudos, we’ll take a GTI badge on its bum.
6 Toyota Cressida
You wanted the 3.0 GLI-6 of course, but the car that preceded the Camry was a real sign of achievement – the working man’s 5 Series BMW. Rear wheel drive made it prime for a teenager takeover.
7 Nissan Skyline
Again, you needed the 2.8 GTX coupe for maximum street cred, but this is a Skyline damnit, a member of Godzilla’s royal family.
8 Chevrolet 4100
And 2500 and 3800 for that matter – they were the Corollas of the 70s but opt for the flagship and you’ll be chasing down Cortinas. My dad had one of those. I crashed it. Naturally, I now have my own.
9 Toyota Hilux
South Africa’s favourite car. Period. And we cannot even picture Mzansi’s roads without them. We’ve had them for 5 decades and they’re essentially part of the family.
10 Nissan Champ
The humble Nissan half-tonner is a dark horse, as loveable as the Hilux above but experiencing a resurgence as something of a classic as well as having strong tuner-scene ties too. You will even see them strutting their stuff at drag events. Phenomenal.
11 BMW E30 3 Series
I’m going to throw some names at you. Gusheshe. Shadowline. 325i, 325is, Evo II, 333, 327i. We never got that seminal M3 in Mzansi so we made our own hot versions.
12 Mazda 323
Much like the Nissan Champ, the 323 and its iconic 2.0 16V engine enjoyed great success at the drag strips. Back in its era however, it quickly became feared and respected as a great sleeper car.
13 Datsun Stanza
If we mention any Datsun, presume it is the SSS model we are most excited about. Popular at a time when most of the Datsun ranged were named with letters such as U, Y and Z.
14 VW Beetle
Volla, Foxy, Volksie – we all had one in the family. Drive one and you’ll know why these beloved little sedans mobilised the masses worldwide. In SA their indestructible nature further helped them fortify their legacy.
15 VW Microbus
David Kramer would agree, the Volksiebus and every iteration including the Caravelle is the perfect South African road tripper’s counterpart.
Bonus Fifteen in No Particular order:
16 Nissan Sani
17 Toyota Hiace
18 Isuzu KB
19 Toyota Corolla wagon
20 Honda Civic EK (VTEC)
21 VW Polo Playa
22 Mercedes W123
23 Renault 5
24 Peugeot 505
25 Citroen DS
26 Fiat Uno
27 Rover SD1
28 Jaguar XJ6
29 Ford Sierra XR6
30 Chevrolet El Camino
