Distinctive wraps for every mood
Owning the company is way to go, says Shivani
SEVEN vivid hue changes, a sound system upgrade and a suspension drop so elegant as to awe the most blasé teenagers — it’s been a busy nine months for Shivani Pillay’s Volkswagen Golf 6 GTI.
The 23-year-old Durban businesswoman and part-time criminology student is the owner of a graffiti-covered car that turns heads on highways.
Pillay enjoys change. In the recent past, the now grey and black vehicle has been matte orange, matte red as well as metallic purple, yellow, powder blue and red.
“This is the seventh colour I have had. I picked my car up on Thursday September 13 2012 and by Friday September 14 it had been resprayed, had coilovers and 19-inch wheels. I already knew that I was going to do it.”
She featured the car at the Autostyle show two days later.
Pillay can ring the changes as often as she likes because she owns Wicked Dips, a car wrap and dip shop. The business was born of her love for custom car graphics — she decided to establish it after being unable to find an outlet in Durban that could give one of her previous cars a wrap before the trend caught on locally.
“How I discovered there was a gap for this in the market was by being one of the people who wanted it done,” she said.
The current graphics were spray-painted onto a plastic dip base so as not to damage the original paintwork.
Pillay has splurged on other aspects besides aesthetics, installing a new full exhaust system, engine software and an induction kit to enhance the car’s performance. “I haven’t done big stuff on the engine — I’m the kind of person who prefers to change the way the car looks.”
Her Golf also now has air suspension and 3SDM, 19-inch rims. The car’s interior is still in its original state but she has plans to redo it in the near future.
Pillay’s interest in cars began when she was a teenager. “I had two cars before but I couldn’t really use them because I was still unlicensed. They were bought for me, I could sit in them, but I couldn’t drive them.”
She once gave in to the impulse to test-drive one.
“I did get caught. I was 16. My mother called Tracker and she found out where I was. I got the hardest slap of my life in front of my friends because I took the car!”
Most of what she learnt about customising cars came from spending time with other petrolheads. In the beginning, she says, “guys would look at me and be like, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about”.
The work she has done on cars and especially on her own vehicle, says otherwise. “It’s a woman’s world too, not just theirs. I’ve always done stuff to my cars.”
In the early days, her interest was in sound. “I’ve always loved driving and being in a car. I was more of a sound fanatic than an engine fanatic. I was always the person that would spend money on the sound system.”
Pillay has diplomas in events management and public relations and is studying towards a degree, but she already has her sights set on a new goal. “At some stage, I’d like to go out into full panel beating. Doing customised wraps is not going to last forever,” she said.