Rumbling Under The African Sun

With the smell of fuel and the sound of thundering engines that hung in the air, the first Road Bandits® Invitational sure went off with a huge bang.

With the super fast “Outlaw Mile” and some awesome 1/8th mile dirt drags, the Hot Rod Rumble offered a unique family friendly atmosphere that is not to be found anywhere else in South Africa. It brought together some of the coolest Hot Rods, Rat Rods and Muscle cars around! It is organised by the Road Bandits® Hot Rod Club, an incredibly passionate group of petrol heads, who worked super hard to create something that is unique, safe, family friendly and above all fun!

The Hot Rod Rumble was held at Goerapan about 107km north of Upington in the Kalahari desert. This salt pan covers 600ha and lies right next to a tar road, making it easy to reach. The team at the Kalahari Goerapan Lodge prepared three different tracks especially for The ablutions were clean, the showers hot and the beer cold, just the way it is supposed to be! The Hot Rod Rumble kicked off with a Mexican themed “Rumble Rally” was more about fun than rallying. Everyone was dressed accordingly and for a minute you might have thought you were on the Mexican border. The 107km route started in Upington and then finished on Goerapan with a few checkpoints that involved chillies and a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant. On the pan, some of the rodders pitched up their tents whilst others booked into their chalets situated on top of a dune overlooking the magnificent Goera salt flat.