It was a mega roadtrip this weekend with several of the ZAR sports cars heading to East London and Umtata for the Zuma-Sambudla weddings, but it was on the way home from Umthatha that disaster struck, about 40km from the town, between Umtata and Ncgobo. Gayton McKenzie, the Chairman of the ZAR brand, was passing a truck on a bumpy road, when the bumps turned into ditches in the road. The white, V10 R8 Spyder began to lose control.
Gayton, an enormously experienced driver, realised the car was going to leave the road and did his best to steer it from the right hand side, where there was a row of trees. He managed to veer left, in front of the truck he’d just passed, then narrowly missed a telephone pole, crashed through the roadside fencing, driving on two wheels for part of the way. The car went through a ditch and crashed into an electricity pylon, catching fire. In the car with him was Moloko McKenzie, former Miss SA teen, who was now knocked unconscious. Gayton, in a rush of adrenaline, managed to free himself from the totaled sports car, pulled Moloko free of the seat and carried her to safety, rolling into a ditch as he was convinced the car might explode. It was only then that he realised he had a broken foot.
The accident was witnessed by several in the ZAR convoy. Kenny Kunene was following the R8 in his black Lamborghini convertible and, when phoned for comment, was inconsolably emotional, as were all the others at the scene.
Gayton, on the other hand, was simply happy to be alive. Realising Moloko was all right and that he had emerged from the incident barely hurt, he was on top form, even joking with the paramedics. The instant rumours of his death, which even reached his mom, are, as Mark Twain put it, greatly exaggerated.
So, to all Gayton’s friends, fans and family, the good news is that the big man is still alive. To all you haters, the bad news is that he’s still alive.
ZAR people, take care on the roads, wear those seatbelts and get home safely. It can happen to the best of us, so appreciate every moment.
We asked Gayton what car he would get to replace the R8. “Something slower,” he said. “Maybe time for that Maybach.”
STORY AND PICTURES COURTESY OF ZAR
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