We've been at this show 'n shine game for some time in Cape Town, and the interest is still growing. Styles come and go, but there are certain things that don’t change.
One of those is the annual Newfields Show, an event that has gotten itself firmly on the petrolhead calendar. Everybody knows about it, and when October comes most koppe hardly need a reminder.
With organisation spearheaded by the Fisher family, this fundraiser is now in its eleventh year and going strong. In fact, it’s such a tradition that Bobby Nitro hasn’t missed reporting on it in these pages for many, many years. It’s just incredible that Bobby just doesn’t seem to get any older.
What stands out is the community spirit, togetherness and perseverance of the Fisher family and the fundraising committee raising much-needed funds for Newfields Primary School.
These grassroots efforts are the real value when transforming societies, when people get together and give their time, demonstrating in action that they care and are willing to make a difference. Change doesn’t start from the top, in highbrow theorising and concepts, it starts on the school fields.
Bobby Nitro spoke to Vanessa Fisher, the behind-the-scenes mom who has been in the driving seat when it comes to organising.
She says: “My son Brent, who is now 23, was at Newfields Primary from Grade R to Grade 7, which is when we started the show.
However, after Brent left for high school, we kept it going and it gained momentum. Our kids are out of school but we are still on the fundraising team.
“Our committee works from January, selling chip rolls every Friday and putting that money away to finance the show. So when October rolls around, we are ready and all the profits that come from the day we are able to give to the school, which really needs the funds, I hardly need to add,” she says.
Brent Fisher, younger brother to old kop on the scene Rafiq “Fiekie Apollo” Fisher, says: “We drew quite a crowd as usual, and the weather was fantastic. There was a show * shine, sound-off, a Miss Newfields and dancers.
“Polo crew made a cool display, putting in a lot of effort to make it look like a VW showroom. We also tried to group cars in such a way that we had the same makes of cars together. For example, we had three Skylines parked side by side, which was a sight to behold.
“The dance crew, called The Unknown from Ocean View, were awesome. I have to take my hat off and they blew the crowd away.”
Brent is the proud owner of two awesome Datsuns, one a 1973 Datsun 510, and a Datsun SSS.
Brent adds: “I’ve had it for 8 months and it was featured in the movie Honey 3, an American dance movie made in SA.”
It is no wonder Brent’s head was turned by a certain 1971 Datsun Cedric 260C. It is owned by Theo Williams, whose immaculate Datsun you saw in last week’s column, and which took first place in old school custom, and scooped Best of Show too.
His brother Fiekie adds: “I’m really happy with the outcome, and what was different is that we had some nice show cars, where usually you’ll have club displays. And it went smoothly, after all, we should know how to do this after 11 years.”
Zaid Watson of Deaf Row Audio, who ran the sound-off, says they had proper loudness pass by the decibel meter. He says: “It was quiet to start, then it picked up fast and we had almost 50 cars through.”
Notables include a Mini from Bassnatics that registered just over 156dB and a 156.77dB from Steven, one of the Deaf Row crew.
The Newfields Show will be back next year in October, so look out on social media for the date.