Roaring Race Rod

All photos by Mike Schmucker @ Studio88 Photography and Aircooled Wonders.

Ever since the wheel first appeared on chariots 3200 BC, man has been obsessed with the ability to travel distances in less time than ever imaginable. This need to travel faster and faster is inevitable , with names like Sir Malcolm Campbell, Craig Breedlove, Burt Munro, Andy Green, Richard Noble and many more in the record books, all pushing the limits of man and machine. These speed capsules driven by visionary men would have no meaning if there wasn’t the perfect surface to run them on. Bonneville’s salt flats in Utah, USA is probably the most famous venue of them all, with its history stretching as far back as 1930.

We all know that imagination never rests and that man will always look for new horizons to conquer. This is no different when it comes to land speed record attempts and on 28 October 2008, Richard Noble and Andy Green announced their latest plan to travel 1000 mph on land with the Bloodhound project. Their choice of venue? Hakskeenpan, Northern Cape, South Africa.

Around the same time Jan Els seized the opportunity to make a lifelong dream come true. Jan has been planning South Africa’s very own Speedweek for years and on 14 September 2012 petrolheads from all over South Africa rolled  on to the dusty pan of Hakskeenpan for the inaugural Kalahari Desert Speedweek.

For many it was a dream come true, an opportunity to express themselves; an opportunity to  test their skills on and off the pan; an opportunity to create, not necessarily the fastest car or bike, but rather a piece of art that describes their passion best.

One such enthusiast decided it was time to go back to his roots and create a machine that would tick off all the boxes on his satisfactory sheet. Anton Dekker, owner of Exclusive Conversion started his motoring career in 1986 as a student. He needed to fund his studies and what better way to achieve this than doing something that he loved best…  to build beach buggies. Not everyone appreciated his methods however. Anton’s parents have always been supportive, but his mother could only accept so much and he knew it. In her eyes he was filling up their property with “junk”. Anton decided to keep the peace and secretly moved his extra projects over to a friend’s workshop. Here he continued to sharpen his skills and built some of the best Beach Buggies that were on offer in the late 80’s. Anton’s love for air cooled cars did not stop here and over the years he has worked on some of the most collectable Porsche’s and Beetles known in South Africa. He is also no stranger to Ferrari’s, Lamborghinis, Cobras, Dakar Motorbikes and many more.

It does not take much to realize Anton’s passion for motorsport. The moment you set foot in Exclusive Conversion Workshop, you are greeted with a warm cup of coffee poured from a Martini (racing label) coffee machine and milk straight out of the Gulf labelled fridge. You are surrounded by period correct memorabilia. A display cabinet filled with hundreds of Porsche model cars also add to the atmosphere. Racing posters on the wall tell their historic stories, while displayed steering wheels steer your dreams to races long forgotten. With a spotless workshop and friendly service you know you are in good hands.

Over the years Anton got so caught up in the rat race that he forgot how it felt to do something for himself. Speedweek was just the right event to trigger his creative button. Every project that he has done over the last few years was done to satisfy his client’s dreams, their ideas and their budgets. His head has been filled with his own ideas for years. However, most of the projects ended up just a step short of what he would have done with his personal project. So, soon after the inaugural Kalahari Desert Speedweek Anton decided it was time to built his very own Race Rod and what better car to base the project on than the car that treated him so well in his early years, a VW Beetle. Anton decided to sculpture the ultimate version of a VolksRod by pulling out all the skills he developed over the years. He realized that he couldn’t do it all by himself and was pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming support he received. Suppliers went out of their way to make this Race Rod project a success, with many of them sponsoring parts and their services. Ideas started flowing and soon the wheels started rolling, literally.

Anton wanted to create a modern day racer that would capture the nostalgia of Speedweek, while adding a touch of Volkswagen’s history to anchor his roots. At first glance this silver bullet screams speed. With its light weight carbon fibre panels and Martini labelled racing stripes, you cannot be blamed for thinking any different. It even sports the number 54 on its side, resembling a successor for Herbie.  Once strapped in behind the wheel the racing butterflies flutter. You are surrounded by subtle detail, like the Porsche 911 Tachometer converted into a 356 look-a-like that reads Race Rod, and carbon fibre Speedster bucket seats, all signs of the passion that went into this project. The split rear window soon brings you back to earth and makes you once again realize that this Race Rod was never intended to break any land speed records, but was rather created to share one man’s dream with many other like-minded enthusiasts on the vast landscape of Hakskeenpan.

Sponsors and suppliers

-Engine: Martin Radel
-Gearbox: Ferdi Radel
-Link pin and King pin: Werner Alker ( Simply Werner)
-Mechanical fitting, turning and welding: Tunis Kotze (Altiko Industries)
-Rims and Brake discs: Uno’s Africa
-Brakes: ASAP
-Gear shift rod: Snap on
-Roll cage: Wickus de Rust (R and D Motorsport)
-Rev counter: Carstix
– Spray paint: Pro Quick Auto Body

Race Rod and friends

The birth of the Race Rod