A chance meeting in Barrydale had Jackie Cruze stumbling upon a rare rat rod of rust and rebellion, parked with a rough-and-ready bearing.
Identifying the owner was straightforward. Div de Villiers has a similar disposition to the rat rod genre: creative, unruly, a collector and a raconteur.
It turns out that Div hails from Ruitersbos, near Mossel Bay, where the multi-skilled man has been building South Africa’s rat rod culture one rusted masterpiece at a time. Div’s creations are less about showroom shine and more about raw creativity, mechanical integrity, and rebel spirit. His latest build, named ‘Flytrap’, is a Frankenstein blend of parts from across the globe, and Jackie Cruze discovered it on its return journey from winning first prize in the Rat Rod category at the 2025 Street Rod Nationals.
Flytrap started out as a late ‘80s Nissan Hardbody bakkie, powered by a 2.4-litre petrol straight-four. “That was my platform, the drivetrain and chassis,” says Div. The entire build can be seen in detail on his Youtube Channel Rat Rods for Africa, and the first thing Div did was strip the donor truck to its bare bones.
An avid collector of all thing rust, Div had found a 1951 Chevrolet 3100 cab and nose he salvaged from a field near Beaufort West. “Rat rods are my thing,” he says. “I actually got the cab long before I bought the base.”
The rest of the body is a patchwork of Mad Max-inspired automotive culture. He repurposed Beetle front fenders, extending and shaping them to be rears, located a Ford F250 load bin from around 1978, a bonnet from a rare 1955 Commer truck, and scorched doors salvaged from a Chevy that burned out in Cape Town. He says: “The doors had no glass, no mechanisms. But I made them work.”
Div is a self-taught sheet-metal artist, not a mechanic by trade. “I enjoy the fabrication and creative thinking more than the engine work,” he says. Still, every part that matters, brakes, suspension and engine, has been rebuilt. He thanks his friend Wayne, who he calls the Barefoot Mechanic, for his help with mechanics.
“It’s mechanically better than most cars on the road. I just don’t care about the creature comforts, such as windows or sound insulation. A bit noisy, granted, but a great way to connect with the car, the engine, the road, and the wind.”
For Div, rat rods are a culture, not just a car category. He says: “There are no rules. That’s what I love. It’s low-budget, high-creativity with plenty of innovation.” In short, collecting junk and engineering it into gold of sorts. Div contrasts the genre with the hot rod scene, saying: “We’re not like high-gloss trailer queen street rods with R100,000 paint jobs.” Div’s builds are meant to be driven hard and enjoyed. “It’s all about fun, we call it smiles per mile.”
Flytap is an attention grabber. “Everywhere I go, people react. Guys shout and wave. Older tannies just give a quiet smile, its nostalgia, I think, as they recognize a bakkie shape they grew up with. There’s always a reaction.”
At car shows, it’s often Div’s humble rust bucket that pulls the crowds away from multi-million-rand supercars. “One time, I parked next to a McLaren at a Cars & Coffee event. Guess where the people clustered? Not around the yet-another supercar but around Flytrap, and it cost me R35,000 to build.”
Div’s love for the old and rusty runs deep. He grew up helping his father restore cars and bought his first one, a 1959 Merc 220S with no third gear, while still at school. He studied mechanical engineering before realising he wasn’t made for boardrooms. So, he launched The Buggy Shop in Pretoria in the 1980s, riding the wave of Beetle customisation before heading to Cape Town to build steel yachts. Two boats and a few oceans later, he returned to SA and bought the farm he still calls home.
“I’m addicted to building things,” he says. “I collect old stuff. I keep going because the next idea is always just around the corner.” Working mostly alone, he handles everything from welding to fabrication.
For Div, rat rods aren’t just builds. They’re statements. “They’re for driving, not trailering. They’re for having fun, not showing off. And they’re for making something beautiful out of junk.” From scrap to automotive poetry, personality over perfection, and proudly South African at that.