I was born and bred in Port Elizabeth, now Gqeberha, on 11 July 1970. My Dad was a fitter and turner that worked for the University of Port Elizabeth in the 70’s and 80’s. The only entertainment that my Dad allowed himself outside of his dedication to his Church, was watching Stock Cars or in today’s parlance, Oval Track Racing.
Every Saturday that there was racing at the PE Showgrounds we would head down to the track in my Dad’s prized possession which was a Carmen Ghia. It was an intoxicating experience for me in those days. The smell of racing fuel, competition under lights with heavy track dust in the air, stones being flung into the crowd and the wild sound of the cars. Not to mention the hamburgers and candy floss sold behind the main grandstands. I just couldn’t wait for the next race and quietly a petrol head was being born.
The top racers in PE Stock Cars in the 70’s were the brothers, Atta and Piet Victor who owned Victor’s Body Works in Uitenhage. They were heroes to me, and I remember being too nervous to approach them when we did the usual visit to the pits. I wanted to race, but I was a kid. Then a strange thing happened because when BMX Racing took off worldwide in the late 70’s, Atta Victor built the 1st BMX track in Port Elizabeth at the Pick n Pay in Hunters Retreat. I was 9 years old and my Stock Car hero built a track where I could race. It turned out that I had the ability, BMX became an addiction and by 1983 I had won the bronze medal at the South African Grand Nationals at Milner Park, Johannesburg.
By the 80’s I had become addicted to BMX and watching F1. The popularity of Stock Car Racing at the PE Showgrounds had begun to wane. Villeneuve, Pironi, Arnoux, Alboreto, Johansson and Berger were the guys in the red F1 cars. I only had eyes for the Ferrari’s. On my bedroom wall in the 80’s, living in the suburb of Westering, I hung a large poster of a Ferrari 308, and I remember telling everyone that would listen that one day I would own a Ferrari. Living in Westering, everyone thought that I was mad in the head(we can debate that one). But I had made a promise to myself.
Life carried on and by the late 80’s I enrolled to study Chartered Accounting at UPE and received free tuition as my Dad was an employee. It took me 9 years instead of 7 years to qualify because the BMX addiction had morphed into a Mountain Biking addiction and in 1992, I raced at the Mountain Biking World Championships in Bromont Canada. All thanks to my Stock Car hero building a BMX track in PE. 2 wheels and 4 wheels had become my destiny in life and that persists to this day, both in business and as my hobbies.
Fast forward a few years to 2019 and a dream came true for me as I visited Athna de Jager at Scuderia Cape Town with my wife, Tracey and our kids, Isabella, Jack, and Emma to order my Ferrari F8. I was very clear with Athna that I wanted to collect my F8 on 11 July 2020 as my 50th B Day present and not understanding exactly that Ferrari decides the delivery date. Covid put paid to my idea, but in late May 2021, I took delivery of a lifetime dream.
I was on business in Nelspruit the following week when I received a phone call from Alastair Gibb inviting me to join SEFAC. I joined immediately with the Garden Route Chapter where we have shared great drives and a Tour or two. I am very proud to be a SEFAC member. SEFAC has led me to make new friends with shared passions and today I count Andrea Cavalieri among my very best friends and what a great time we had on his Tour to Monza in 2024 where Charles Leclerc won the Grand Prix. Will we ever forget those final few laps? The McLarens closing in on Charles only for him to hold on to victory! Andrea showed us the ins and outs of the Italian Motor Car Valley, fed us the best Italian food and wine non-stop for 7 days and of course the prized photo was taken outside the original entrance to Ferrari in Maranello.
Thank-you for the invitation to write a bit about my journey to owning a Ferrari and I look forward to more great drives and fun times with all the SEFAC members.
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Brandon Els
