Features

It's the tragedy of modern sport. Two is not a winner and three nobody remembers. All competitors want to be number one. So, until he started grabbing wins (two in a row, Australian and Malaysian GP), British driver Jenson Button was relatively out of the headlines.

Anwar Sidi is a name synonymous with motor sports photography. A hobby dating back to 1985, he has immortalised countless moments in rallying, which have won him both local and international acclaim. To his fans and lovers of motor sports, these images will forever be etched in the mind. Who will forget, for example, Mischell Van Tongeren's Subaru Impreza during the 2001 WRC rally when it missed running over a boy by a hair's breadth?

Take my word. You’ve a better chance at getting hold of one of Picasso's chef d’œuvres  than this car. It’s that rare. Made in the US by General Motors, it’s probably the only RIGHT HAND DRIVE 1958 Chevrolet Biscayne this side of the world . Old it is, writes ERIC MWENI, but start the engine and it’s like a rottweiler on a fraying leash!

When Henry Mwakio wanted to ­ fit an alarm in his newly-acquired Toyota Mark II, he called a friend who suggested a mechanic in downtown Nairobi. The mechanic’s quote was cheaper than what he was getting elsewhere and he could use him to save a few hundred shillings. “I bought the alarm elsewhere and took it to him for ­ fitting,” recalls the IT Technician, who does not hide his preference for shortcuts, whether in servicing his car or beating the traffic.

He is probably the only mechanic in Kenya who can repair the damaged system of a Toyota Prius. Yet, by his average, non-assuming demeanour, he can pass off as a farm hand or an apprentice bicycle repairman.