Addictions are horrible things. They eat away at the sanctity of a sane man’s mind and tear families apart. Until, eventually, after years of abuse, the inevitable happens – an extension to the garage. Like the most potent of drugs, vehicle-fetishes grip one’s soul and become a controlling factor in a family’s existence. Take Don Nieuwoudt’s household, for example. His poor wife, Annelene, is now addicted, and even Don’s young son has grown up to become a ‘Cruiser fan’.
Words and images by Andrew Middleton
The basis of this generation-crossing addiction started in the early Nineties when Don bought his first Cruiser. After the initial wave of excitement had passed and a tolerance had quickly developed, only a big-block Chev engine in the nose could cure Don’s craving for power. And you can’t imagine how bad it is now …
When Don spotted the FJ45 Cruiser you see here, it belonged to a man in Cape Town. That was in 2013, and he just had to have it. Attracted by the bulging 350-cubic-inch Chevy engine and its old-school curves, or what passed as curves, Don bought the old brute in the hope of making it into a dune-ramping monster. This would be the 15th Cruiser to join Don’s vast stable, and the beast looked promising. You see, Don isn’t interested in new and shiny; he wants to embarrass people in their expensive 4x4s without even trying, in a pure display of Old School Rules.
