Aspire Art’s new Collectable Cars division offers rare, high-quality vehicles, including the iconic 1976 Ferrari 308 GTB Vetroresina, one of only five in South Africa. The auction features prestigious marques like Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, and Porsche. Each car is carefully curated, with verified history, ensuring buyers’ confidence in their investment.

Business leaders project 3.3% economic growth by 2025 if Eskom blackouts end, crime and corruption are addressed, and Transnet’s logistics improve. CEOs have pledged R250 million and expertise to support government efforts in fixing electricity, transport, and crime. These initiatives aim to boost growth, create jobs, and attract investment.

The Kingsley Holgate Foundation’s Africa Odyssey Expedition covered 60,000km across 24 African countries, distributing 15,880 mosquito nets. Using two Defender 130 D300s, the team faced extreme conditions, including floods, desert heat, and treacherous roads. The Defenders’ performance and reliability were praised, highlighting their resilience in harsh environments.

The George Old Car Show on February 8, 2025, will celebrate British automotive icons Rolls-Royce and Bentley, alongside other classic British brands. With up to 1,000 vehicles on display, the one-day event will showcase luxury cars, motorcycles, and more. Tickets are available for pre-booking, with a post-show tour in the Southern Cape.

South African Breweries (SAB) launched a campaign to discourage drunk driving as part of its SAB Sharp platform. The initiative promotes responsible drinking through partnerships with government, law enforcement, and community groups. SAB has invested in Alcohol Evidence Centres, supporting over 24,000 drunk driving arrests to enhance road safety.

Andrew Kirby, CEO of Toyota South Africa, urged government intervention to combat de-industrialisation, citing Thailand’s successful automotive policies. He suggested South Africa adopt similar tax incentives and consumer subsidies to boost local production and component localisation. Experts agreed on the need for collaborative public-private policy development to revitalise the sector.

Hollard Highway Heroes is an annual competition open to all truck and bus fleets and their drivers in South Africa. Hollard Trucking has crowned two new Hollard Highway Heroes, recognising the best-performing truck and bus drivers on South Africa’s roads.

The Automechanika Johannesburg expo, opened by Michael Johannes, highlighted fleet management, sustainability, and new financing strategies. Exhibitors showcased innovations like body shop alignment tools, aftermarket parts, and prepacked clips. Conferences, including the Township Mechanics Indaba, offered networking and skills development, making the event a key industry highlight.

Glasurit prioritises sustainability in automotive refinishing, focusing on reducing emissions and resource conservation. The launch of the 100 Line in Southern Africa introduces eco-friendly waterborne paints, reducing VOC emissions while maintaining performance. Quick-drying formulas enhance productivity, supporting body shops. Glasurit continues to lead in sustainable, high-quality automotive solutions.

Keith’s Panel Shop, led by Reece Williamson and his sons, specializes in accident-related suspension repairs, wheel alignment, and diagnostics. With 37 years of experience, they use DeBeer refinish products to ensure quality. The company embraces sustainability, using waterborne paints and monitoring emissions, while expanding their services and product offerings.

This year the Collision Repairers Association (CRA) has faced many challenges such as body shop closures, sustainability concerns, and parts supply issues. Despite these, CRA made progress with training initiatives, including partnerships with C3 Training Academy and MerSETA, addressing the skills shortage.

Mix & Match has expanded the Challenger range with the CL6500 VOC Hardener for rapid drying applications. Challenger offers a full range of hardeners, colour-matching toners, and tintable clear products, designed for cost-conscious body shops. The brand, made by Axalta, also provides high-performance primers and colour tools for accurate matching.

The REFINE spray guns offer advanced atomisation technology for various applications: the RS8802 for clear coats, RS8901 for base coats, RS8805 for touch-ups, and RS8801D for primers. Each model features ergonomic designs, high paint transfer efficiency, adjustable nozzles, and durable construction, ensuring smooth, consistent results for professionals and beginners alike.

The European automotive industry faces ongoing challenges from emissions regulations, especially with Euro V, VI, and VII, leading to complex and costly systems. The shift to electric vehicles (EVs) has created a conflict, with manufacturers pressured by quotas and fines. Lobby groups like T&E influence policy, complicating the industry’s future and economic health.

Big Five Accident Repair Centre, founded by Mano Nayager, is renowned for its commitment to quality and personalized service. With 36 years of expertise, the centre processes 40 repairs weekly, using premium materials like PPG’s Envirobase® paint. Backed by a 10-year guarantee, it offers exceptional craftsmanship and customer satisfaction.

Ford Anglia’s have been a significant part of the Stuart Johnston’s life, from learning to drive a 1951 model to experiencing a schoolmate crashing a Prefect into his bedroom wall. He visited Dave van der Merwe’s and his 1965 Anglia, now a hill-climb special, features a modified 2.0-litre Pinto engine, delivering impressive power and a distinctive sound.

Denys Edwardes, family-owned since 1936, excels in accident repairs with 85 skilled staff, including 35 technicians. Specializing in passenger and commercial vehicle collision repairs, the company offers advanced services like digital assessments and eco-friendly practices. Their dedication to quality, training, and customer service ensures consistent, top-tier results in vehicle restoration.

The LEX 3 77/2.5 is a compact, lightweight compressed air eccentric sander ideal for sanding small areas, transitions, and hard-to-reach spots. With a 77mm pad and 700g weight, it offers minimal vibration, noise, and low air consumption, ensuring cost savings. The robust, low-maintenance motor guarantees durability and long service life.

Concept 23 provides an easy-to-use solution for restoring tyres to a like-new appearance. It can be applied with a trigger spray or brush, offering a lustrous, non-tacky finish. Fast-drying and non-aggressive, it ensures quick vehicle turnaround without marking surrounding paintwork or plastics on wheel trims.

The CARLA Neo-Flo HVLP spray gun is designed for professional painters, featuring a lightweight die-cast aluminium body and ergonomic design. It offers high paint transfer efficiency for top-quality results. Available in Chrome or Teflon coating, with a 600mm cup capacity and 1.3mm nozzle size, it ensures optimal performance and ease of use.

Sagola’s 4600 spray gun offers ultimate flexibility with specifically designed air caps: BASE for even coverage, HVLP for high-efficiency applications, CLEAR for ultra-fine atomisation, and CLEAR PRO for high-gloss, mirror-like finishes. Available in various models, the 4600 delivers unmatched versatility for diverse painting requirements, ensuring superior results.

Challenger hardeners are designed for various applications, from filler to clear coats, ensuring optimal performance with each layer. The CL6500 VOC Hardener is specifically used for rapid drying, working with the CL210 Air Dry Clear. This combination dries the clear coat within one to three hours, depending on temperature, and is ready to polish.

Celette SA’s Multifunction Spotter offers fast car body repairs with microprocessor control. It includes programmes for welding washers, rivets, wavy wires, and heating. The kit comes with a gun, hearth cable, hammer, 10-piece three-point washer kit, cylindrical head, and carbon electrode.

DeBeer’s MM9021 Metallic Bright Silver toner in the WaterBase 900+ Series simplifies working with chrome-like finishes. It offers a clean, light appearance with dark flop and excellent adhesion. This toner ensures precise colour matching, reducing rework risks, and guarantees first-time accuracy for popular OEMs.

The Systainer extractor system from Festool includes a crevice nozzle, filter bag, main filter, and more. It offers maximum mobility with a cordless design, 36 V turbine, and 2 x 18 V batteries. Featuring Bluetooth® autostart and a remote control, it provides powerful, dust-free performance and seamless compatibility with tools and accessories.

Hurricane Equipment offers pre-owned and reconditioned Car-O-Liner benches and measuring systems for along with new W1000 and Crafter benches.

U-Pol’s new primer formulation excels in direct-to-metal applications, offering excellent opacity, high film builds, and easy sanding. It supports air dry, low bake, or IR curing systems and is ideal for both spot repairs and full panel applications with system hardeners.

The European automotive industry faces ongoing challenges from emissions regulations, especially with Euro V, VI, and VII, leading to complex and costly systems. The shift to electric vehicles (EVs) has created a conflict, with manufacturers pressured by quotas and fines. Lobby groups like T&E influence policy, complicating the industry’s future and economic health.

Jaguar built its iconic brand through stunning cars, wartime vision, five Le Mans wins, and daring high-speed European journeys. Achieving this over fifty years with a fraction of Mercedes-Benz’s resources, Jaguar’s success relied on a small team and a modest budget, yet left a lasting legacy.

On 10th December 1997 Toyota introduced the first generation of Prius that went on sale in Japan. The primary objective was to build a vehicle with improved fuel economy, like Honda did.

Globally the vehicle manufacturing industry has undergone a revolution – hybrids during the early part of this century, and then in the past decade, full electric drive. The upshot is while some markets are driven towards a political electric only “Utopia”, others are dealing with far more practical matters.

The wonderful world of vehicle manufacturers is under massive pressure to change, driven by legislation, consumer choices and international trading. The collision repairers are down stream of this, and the increasing chaos will have quite an effect, eventually.

Andrew Marsh delves into the evolution of ADAS to full autonomy The engineering that is going on across the autonomous vehicle community is astounding, but all of the systems are prototypes.
He also questions how the manufacturers and repairers feature in this, as well as the flow of data needed for these vehicles.

Andrew takes us through the move towards even better vehicle design, which usually takes years but promises a future of longer life parts. The object is to reduce energy use in both the original manufactured ‘new’ vehicle as well as parts for service or repair, in order to survive today.

With loads of product variation, leading to more difficult-to-get special parts due to lower production volumes – as well in Europe – product support ceasing five years after the last production of a model. The issues show up in trim items, unique panels, and all the parts typically used in collision repair.

Those who seek profit and only see everyone else as a route to that profit, will invest in ever more complex ‘machines. The investors won’t care what the machine does as long as profit is delivered. Is this AI at its best? See what Andrew Marsh has to say.

There are few economic ways to allow a wind turbine or solar farm to produce energy and store it. One route is batteries, which are expensive or another way is to use the otherwise wasted power to create pure hydrogen – ‘green’ hydrogen, to indicate it is made with renewable power.

After 18 months of negotiations, the Hyundai Exter has been launched in South Africa. Originally designed for India, this 1.2 compact crossover SUV offers a stylish, sporty design with features like an 8-inch infotainment system, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. The Exter is priced from R269 900 and offers excellent value.

The Ford Ranger Tremor combines the XLT’s comfort with Wildtrak X’s off-road capabilities, featuring a 154kW Bi-Turbo engine, full-time 4WD, and Pro Trailer Backup Assist. Its rugged design includes steel protection and off-road features like a 360-degree camera. Priced from R978 600, it offers superior performance and comfort for off-road enthusiasts.

Mahindra marks 20 years in South Africa with the launch of the XUV 3X0, a sporty, well-equipped sub-compact SUV. With a refined 1.2-litre turbo petrol engine and features like a 360-degree camera, six airbags, and ADAS level 2, the vehicle offers great performance and value, priced from R254 949.

Hyundai’s new i20 has hit the road in South Africa with a refreshed, stylish design that is part of a well-rounded motoring package in the segment for hatchback cars, where it occupies a sizeable 10% share of this competitive part of the local car market.

Ford has introduced their new Transit Custom starting with the long wheelbase Van and promising more models later this year. Having claimed Europe’s best-selling one-ton award, the new model promises even more, thanks to consumer feedback which was incorporated into ergonomic design.

The BMW X2 marks a significant stride forward in the evolution of the Sports Activity Coupé (SAC) concept. Its distinct design, characterised by a daring coupé silhouette and dynamic lines, ensures that the X2 captures attention with its charismatic presence. This second generation establishes a new standard in the premium compact segment.

In the latest rendition of the Range Rover Sport, the optional Stealth Pack catapults the vehicle’s performance to unprecedented levels, boasting a dark and dramatic theme that radiates sophistication and power. Every detail of the exterior is meticulously crafted to perfection, establishing a new realm of automotive excellence

The latest BMW 5 series has been launched in South Africa. There are two variants: an all-wheel drive electrified BMW i5 M60, embodying the premium brand’s commitment to future-forward mobility, complemented by a BMW 520d with 48-volt mild hybrid technology. Performance and good looks never disappoint with this manufacturer.

The world’s capable rugged 4×4 often describe Toyota’s Land Cruiser, and the latest evolution is just that, with enhanced styling, technology and specifications as well. It blends heritage and modernity effortlessly and is still a head turner.

In the realm of high-performance hatchbacks, the Toyota GR Yaris stands as a legendary figure, and it has just received a series of enhancements that aim to elevate its driving experience to new heights. The GR Yaris has undergone meticulous upgrades, embodying the relentless pursuit of excellence that Toyota is renowned for.