SIMPLY FAN-TAZZ-TIC

He saw his car as a blank canvas and turned it into art

- LESEGO SEOKWANG

EYES widen, jaws drop and fingers point as the futuristic vehicle glides past the fence of a primary school in Weltevredenpark, Joburg.

A crowd of kids jostles at the fence, straining to get a glimpse of the red-and black car that resembles a hybrid of the Batmobile and the DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future.

Behind the wheel is its creator, Ofentse Mphatsoe (27), who's still taken aback at the attention he's been receiving since his souped-up wheels hit the road a few months ago.

And making it all the more remarkable is the fact that this car has its origins in the humble Toyota Tazz.

"It's still a Tazz," Ofentse says. "The way people react to it is fascinating - I really didn't expect it."

Between 1996 and 2006, the Tazz was the biggest-selling Toyota in South Africa, sought after for its low price, fuel economy, and reliability. Ofentse's dad gave him his Tazz in 2013 and he then set about transforming it into a work of art.

He's having to become accustomed to the attention he gets when he's behind the wheel now, he says.

"I have to be careful not to get distracted because people in other cars roll down their windows and ask me to turn around so they can take a photo."

His love of art and geometry made him want to take something ordinary and transform it into the extraordinary - and making it all the more remarkable is that it's all made from recycled material.

Ofentse has long been fascinated by concept cars, which are created not to be practical but are often beautiful pieces of art," he says.

"I took inspiration from a lot of futuristic concept car art and features you'd normally see on McLarens and Ferraris and so on. But it was just me embracing the crazy side of my imagination because none of this was planned.