Usually it would be inappropriate to call this particular creation a beast, no matter how much it might look like one, because the car in question has, in fact, been built for his wife.
However, when Raziek Rajah promised to build his wife Nawaal a cabbie of note, he said, and I quote “I’ll create for you a monster.” And we’re quite sure she was pretty happy with that promise.
Scroll forward to the finished product, a Range Rover Evoque fully customised and kitted out with all the bells and whistles.
Bobby has been waiting for this one to emerge from the workshop, and spoke to Raziek in an exclusive reveal of the new Razor Customs Evoque. Unless you’ve been living under a stone, you’ll know of another work of art from this custom house, the Razor GTR that has been rocking social media like no other Cape car yet.
Raziek says: “After having completed the build on the Razor GTR, I recalled my promise to my wife and went on the hunt for the right vehicle. We decided to make the Range Rover Evoque the project car. It suited the part as it is the perfect ladies’ car.”
Bobby wanted to know just what went into this project. Raziek says: “Redefining beautiful cars is never an easy task. It takes a lot of hard work, patience and perseve-rance. But seeing the end product makes up for the hours of work that we put in.
“We shipped in a base kit to save time and then set to work customising and changing this kit to a unique design. We only had six weeks to build this vehicle. My team assisting me was Niaz Daniels of Xmodz, Gino de Lange of Full Liquid Jacket and Adrian Minaar of Auto Prism.
One look and you’ll notice an already bold look has been made even bolder with widened arches and bigger wheels. Raziek explains: “We had to use a larger wheel as the original 20-inch OEM size was drowning in the new kit. So we opted for a 22-inch rim.”
To finish the exterior, they chose a candy red colour that would create a paint job second to none. Bobby says “they” because he assumes Nawaal had a serious contribution to this decision.
Customising the interior, the team added red leather inserts on door panels and seats in lieu of the original black seats.
The trademark Razor logo is emblazoned on the seats as well as lettered onto the tyres.
Now, a bit about the canvas as it were.
The Evoque was launched in 2011 with the idea of producing a smaller and more environmentally conscious four-wheel drive vehicle. Something you could take to the Cederberg for the weekend yet still drop the kids off at school in without incurring the wrath of the green brigade.
The Evoque offers all the latest terrain response systems to make you look proficient on grass, gravel and snow, and also boasts an air intake system incorporated into the roof, which saves having to install one of those unsightly snorkels one might see on other vehicles in this range.
It is powered by a 2.2-litre turbodiesel engine.
Asked about his motivation for the project, Raziek says: “Creating this car has helped us show vehicle owners what can be done with an already snazzy, beautiful car. People all over the world are trying to find that unique thing that defines them. The Razor Evoque project was special to me as I not only had the opportunity to create a monster of an Evoque, but also make sure that I fulfilled my promise to my wife, Nawaal Rajah.”