Kabelo Chabalala

Y MOM and little brother call me Rra Tsela (a man who’s always on the road). This is true, because I actually sleep at home three times a week on average.

Then came the Subaru XV 2.0i-S automatic, in a hyper-blue colour and things got worse: home became my breakfast and wardrobe spot. I was determined to spend as much time as possible in the car, and I averaged a staggering 272km a day over a 12-day period.

That included being at work for eight hours and more a day! With a car that consumed 8.2l/100km, I did not mind travelling those distances.

I call myself a BMW village boy, and since I am giant, I am talking X4, X5 and X6. But then I was introduced to the world of Subaru. Everything changed. I enjoyed being the only one in a Subaru on the N1, N4, N3 and driving in places like Katlehong, Ekangala, Mhlanga, Kempton Park, Hammanskraal and Bela Bela. Everywhere I went, I stood out.

The special treatment from car guards was notable. At Jubilee Mall in Hammanskraal, as I was driving into the open space parking lot, a guard moved from a BMW 320i and VW Amarok to stand next to the Subaru. I greeted him, and he said: “This is the first time I have come close to a Subaru; I actually did not think black people know of such a car. They only buy BMWs and Mercs. O sekhokho bro (You are the boss, bro). Go do your shopping, I will look after the car.”

I saw big white men in huge 4x4s opening their windows slowly to check out who was driving – it was me, the black village boy, with a funky hairstyle, blue blazer, white T-shirt, black pair of jeans and grey sneakers.

At one garage, the petrol attendants started pushing each

Mother to offer me their services.

I asked one: “What were you guys fighting for?” He replied: “We hardly see Subarus here, and we were actually shocked to see one with a bright colour like this, and we were more stunned when we realised that it is a young black man behind the wheel.”

My village has mostly gravel and sandy roads, but the XV’s capacity to pull with all four wheels and its generous 220mm ground clearance gave me the push to take on the roads with so much ease.

This led me to take it to the car wash sooner than I expected. It was dusty and dirty. The guys at the car wash took more than two hours to wash the vehicle.

After all that, I must say it was not as clean as I expected. Clearly there was less cleaning done in the car and more admiration.

“We wash a lot of cars here. BMWs, Mercedes-Benz and Audis are regulars here. But a Subaru is unusual. Thanks for making my week.”

A downside is that the boot space is small.

My mother and aunt said it wouldn’t work for them. My aunt said: “It’s surely a car for single