When we first heard about Karbrasse, we genuinley thought this was going to be another one of those where petrolheads simply brag about all the technical aspects of the cars they build and then perhaps take us along for a ride.
Make no mistake; Karbrasse still has loads of spinning, drifting, racing, and convoys, stance and car show action.
Dis net verfrissend dat die show eintlik meer menswees stories vertel en nie net oor die karre gaan nie.
While many of us are in awe of the brilliant fictional story in the Spinners TV series starring Cantona James, the car action in there is as real as it gets. *Karbrasse is a TV documentary about the people whose lives revolve around Car Cuture portrayed in Spinners.
However don’t be fooled by the word documetary, and spinning is also not the only aspect of Car Culture that Karbrasse looks into. Director Thomas Holder made a great effort to make it a lively portrayal of car culture community. Each episode showcases a character, a snippet of their lives and how cars play an important role for them, their families and friends in a manner that really captivates the viewer.
Gewoonlik skryf ons voor die tyd oor ‘n nuwe TV show, maar ons het bietjie laat daarby uitgekom om die previews te binge en ons wou eers sien hoe dinge lyk voor ons julle vertel.
Almost a month into it already, the series of thirteen episodes started on Friday, 5 January at 19:30 on kykNET&kie, DStv channel 145.
If you have missed those first few episodes, they all do become available for Catch Up on DSTV Stream soon after being aired every week.
From Lavender Hill to Ennerdale
WATCH Karbrasse Season 1 Official Trailer
Fortunately the producers have allowed us to see a few episodes in advance and we are excited to see the rest of it.
What stands out for us about Karbrasse is that it tells the stories of how in our very own communities Car Cuture is keeping families together; strengthening bonds between couples or between parents and their children. Car Culture also gives young people in the broader community something positive to aspire to.
From Lavender Hill in Cape Town to Ennerdale in the south of Johannesburg, and from communities across the length and breadth of South Africa, car enthusiasts talk about the positive impact that Car Culture has on their lives and show how being karbrasse has become a lifestyle in certain communities.
Car Culture is Keeping Families Together
In almost every episode the common thread of how the whole family bonds around their enthusiasm for cars is as much a central theme as the cars they build, drive and show off.
Vanaf die eerste episode sien ons dat familiebande sterk is onder die petrolkoppe. Bronny White van Mitchell’s Plain het hom liefde vir karre bou vanaf hom pa geërf het en dra dit nou aan hom seun oor terwyl die twee saam ‘n Nissan S13 fine tune vir drifting.
WATCH 360’s by Hom – Karbrasse Season 1 Episode 1 Trailer with Bronny White
Clint aka Mase & Elvis, two friends from Ennerdale, have different stories to tell about their experiences growing up without their fathers; one who had an absent father trough the divorce of his parents and his grandfather became the father-figure in his life, while the other lost his father through death. What they have in common is that they get their children involved in their hobby.
Prioritising Parenting & Fatherhood
Car crews in Ennerdale take fatherhood and family bonds seriosly and this is shown by the fact that they host an annual Father’s Day gathering seeing that throughout the year kids often attend car events with their dads.
In a later episode Shantone Buys also from Ennerdale who helped build the sport in the area has a moving story of how he honours his elderly father who got him interested in Spinning and he is now helping his daughters make their dreams come true.
Couple Goals
Cape Town’s famous DJ Ready D aka Deon Daniels and his wife, Malikah, features in one of the episodes and show how their lives as a couple revolve around cars and music, as well as doing everything they can to make the sport safe. Their SR4A / GCAP campaign, short for Safer Roads For All – Great Cape Ambassadors Program launched in 2013 uses exposure to motorsport as a way to teach particularly the youth, but also the community at large about Road Safety.
Malikah jokingly says that people see them together in the car scene and exclaim “Couple Goals”. “It is just all about our shared passion for the culture.”
Team Brenner – All in as a Family
In Lavender Hill, Insaaf Brenner introduces us to Team Brenner, a mother, father and son team of spinners each with their own spin car. Five out of the eight cars in their family are either spin cars or drift cars. Her husband Ihsaan Brenner is ulimately responsible for building and maintaining the cars but Insaaf and their 17 old son Nithaar Brenner also often get grease on their hands. They absolutely do not mind helping out in the workshop.
While Nithaar, is doing great as a spinner, his ultimate goal is to become a Drift Racer. Nithaar who is also a highly talented football player says he is forunate to be able to do someting that keeps him away from the pitfalls of drugs and gangerism that so many of our teens fall into.
Insaaf says that there is a lot of competitiveness between her husband and son when it comes to spinning.
In all likelihood the healthy rivalry between them is not only great for the team but also great for their bond as a family.
Stance, Show And Shine, and Restomods
Of course is die Karbrasse show nie net oor Spinners, Drifting en Dice nie.
Another important sub culture withing Car Culture are the enthusiasts who modify their cars or they *restomod classic cars for the sole purpose of showing off their beauty and technical wizardry.
Op Karbrasse is daar selfs ’n paar Datsun-koppe wat ’n versameling klassieke Datsuns besit en al te gelukkig daarmee spog.
Tariq “Chip” Moosa can be seen as an artist who prefers driving slowly in order for the art on his car can be appreciated. It has taken him more than two decades to build up his BMW E9 (called Nkabi) and in August this year beat more than 6000 cars at the Slammed UK competition in Birmingham.
Originally from Laudium in Pretoria, Chip Moosa owns Chicanos Customs in Sandton.
Positive Spinoffs of Car Cuture
We are certain that the Karbrasse TV Show has more cool revelations in store over and above the few aspects of Car Culture we have seen so far.
Karbrasse highlights a culture within our communities that probably carries many misconceptions and for some may even seem as a “waste of time and money”. However, the positive spinoffs (see what I did there?) that car culture has for the individuals, their family life, and for their broader community far outweigh the negative perceptions anyone may have.
Karbrasse is a series of thirteen episodes which started on Friday, 5 January at 19:30 on kykNET&kie, DStv channel 145.
Karbrasse is also available for Catch Up on DSTV Stream.
*Karbrasse – While Kar means Car, the word Brasse can loosely be translated to friends, buddies, guys or crews. My brasse are my buddies or my crew. Those Brasse are those guys.
Therefor Kar-Brasse could either be read as Car Guys or as Car Crews.
*Restomod – Restoring a classic car with modificatons that enhance their reliability, handling, speed, safety or adds technical capabilities that were not available when the original was built. Restomod modifications can also be for purely aesthetic purposes.
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