On the Cape car calendar, there are a few events that stand out as representing the local car culture on an international level. Only the Fittest is certainly one of those.
Hosted by automotive cultural movement Capestance, the Only the Fittest exhibitions have developed over the past decade into a must for car fans across the Cape. Nay, across the land.
Since it’s inception in 2011, Capestance has reliably brought car fans a choice yearly collection (Covid not included). It is the first start-up club to bring events indoors, initially to an airplane hangar in 2015. From there the event moved to Atlantic Film Studios and finally, this year, to the Cape Town International Conference Centre, where Capestance brought 150 select vehicles under one roof and attracted in the region of 2,000 serious car fans through the doors.
Tauriq Ajam, the central organizer, says: “Ten years ago we approached the CTICC as a venue but it was priced out of our reach. Now, a decade later, we have come full circle and hosted a humdinger of an event there. That, for us, is quite an achievement.”
He continues: “We’ve always been about pushing the automotive industry to higher levels, raising the bar. After attending overseas shows I strive for that international standard.”
Talking about the development of the club, Tauriq says: “We have outgrown the Stance industry and, although we remain true to our roots, we are shifting from a cultural movement to being a marketing and events crew.”
As such, this year Capestance literally brought the best of the best from all factions of motoring, including drags, drift, spin and Stance. Only the Fittest showcased the top cars in these categories, inviting winners from highly regarded shows and events from across the country.
The winner, with no further ado, was a green Jetta owned by Sanjay Premlall from Durban. Says Tauriq: “No ordinary Jetta this, with a Porsche conversion engine, wire tucked bay, immaculate interior, it ticked all the boxes.”
A word or two on the Stance genre, the promotion of which represents the origins of Capestance.
Stance refers to the way a car sits or is positioned relative to the ground and often focuses on aesthetics or proportions. Stance encompasses aspects such as suspension height, facilitated through coilovers or air suspension, while wheel fitment includes the alignment and positioning of wheels that considers camber, offset and the degree of flushness with fenders. Tire fitment is popular, with tires stretched over wider rims being a look to pursue. These factors combine to render an overall visual style, hard to put your finger on quite what it is, that will cause an aficionado to inhale sharply and emit a low whistle of appreciation.
With all these elements interacting to create this overall impression, perhaps the Stance genre is better described as an artform. That’s the reason Only the Fittest calls in show judges who have not only experience but an intimate understanding of a variety of motoring groups. Tariq ‘Chip’ Moosa and Shahiem Bell were those guys this year.
Shahiem says: “From a judging perspective, it was much fun having to see all the creativity and styles of mods done to different kinds of cars but I think between myself and the famous, Tauriq ” Chip ” Moosa who has now represented SA at overseas events with his awesome builds, all the stories and passion shared was most enjoyable to hear from all the participants.
“To the untrained eye, many cars looked quite simple on display, but when you hear the cool stories and look really closely at all the details, many cars then stand out from others,” said Shahiem.
“So a huge congratulations to all this years winners and I’m sure others will come back stronger next year.”
Asked about his highlights, Tauriq says: “Walking through the venue first thing in the morning, all quiet but with this marvelous machinery in place, that was certainly satisfying.”