Cheap cars can be a relative phrase. What is inexpensive to my neighbour, an Arabian oil prince, might be unrealistic to me. So, cheap cars need to be put into perspective to make any true sense. To the typical South African home, an affordable vehicle could mean any car substantially less pricey than a brand new luxury German four door with a star on its bonnet. This means the term "cheap car" means an affordable vehicle for the purpose and financial means of the individual looking at such vehicle. Cheap cars could therefore be seen as either a second-hand car considerably less costly than its new derivative, or alternatively a new car of a smallish design without any stars beautifying its bonnet.
In the context of Africa, in particular sub Saharan Africa, cheap cars would mean different things to a great many men and women than it would to their richer counter parts in other places in the world, who may acknowledge the above definition. To these people who would mostly be rural dwellers and often be subsistence farmers, an affordable car would mean an inexpensive motor vehicle with great reliability and which would run on the smell of an oil rag. The vehicle would also need to be multi-purpose and drivers friendly. So, what might these cheap cars look like and would be their function? To answer this one would want to look at the environment the car would be used in as well as the application areas of such a car. Let's consider a subsistence farmer in the Transkei area, who for a number of years worked on the mines and saved some money to go "farming". Although he might have a bit of capital to buy seed etc. and have a few oxen he could in span to plough with, he has no means to transport production goods, nor any transportation to sell his produce at any reasonable market. He further has no means to reach his local clinic 80 kilometer away on a dirt road or visit his children in Umtata.
This means the man's requirement of a cheap car, might look something like: A sturdy car, with a load area on the top, ideally a dish like device, able to carry some 300 kilo's. A great suspension system to cope with the roads, very good brakes, a smallish motor which is easily and economically maintainable, light on fuel , roomy inside and devoid of any luxuries like radios, air-conditioning and leather seats (a real pig may from time to time share the seating, after all). The vehicle, on the other hand, would need to have headlights and windscreen wipers. The petrol tank will have to be large enough to carry enough petrol as the nearest filling station is 80 kilo's away, but he should be able to service the vehicle himself. Overall the need would thus be a simple, solid and easy to run vehicle, not something to boast with at church or the local headman's indaba. The Pricewell not more than 10-15 cows worth when new
Now – how does your expectations of cheap cars stack up with that of our Transkei buddy?
