Seychelles modified cars show a roaring success |13 May 2014

If you are like me a car enthusiast, then the place you had to be last weekend was at the NSC Hall (ex- SMB Hall) at Roche Caïman.
For the first time in Seychelles, members of the public were given the opportunity to feast their eyes on some seriously modified cars, in legal setting, all under one roof. Believe me when I say that the Seychellois public responded in a big way.

The show itself was organised by the Seychelles Modified Cars (SMC) community, which according to one of its founding members, Luc Perreau, was officially registered on Friday, in order for them to be able to gain the necessary licences to stage the show.

According to Mr Perreau the association has been around for a number of years and it was in 2007 that they officially started their forum. He maintains that the group is now close to 800 members, and that they are a very open community, whereby anyone can request to be a member on their Facebook page SeyModCars.

The number of people who came down to the NSC Hall for this one-of-a-kind spectacle was simply astounding. The show itself officially started a 2pm and by that time the organisers had already had everything in place. You could hear the cars raving their engines from as far as the Plaisance roundabout.

The show showcased a number of different models of modified vehicles. There were Toyota, Subaru, Honda, Peugeot, KIA, Land Rovers, Mitsubishi and others, and they had all been modified in some way or another.

Mr Perreau said that he feels that modifying cars here in Seychelles has risen to another level. He said that there are car owners now who are shipping their cars over to Singapore to have them modified, the engine tuned, and the cars are then shipped back to Seychelles. He stated that some owners would even fly a professional tuner over here from abroad to have them tune their cars.
Mr Perreau noted that there are local tuners here in Seychelles who are able to tune a car to the same level as is done in Singapore.

The level of modification on some of the vehicles varied considerably. There were those that focused more on modifying their cars’ body, whereby they have added body kits, vinyl, and decals. There were those who focused a lot more on their engine performance, adding custom engine parts to boost the engine power. It was all very interesting, and the public was very excited by the opportunity to come up close to those extravagantly modified cars, to touch them, take picture beside them, listen to their engines roar, and watch their exhaust spit out fire.

There is no doubt about it that the show was a success. The public turnout was exceptional, and the cars on display were all very flashy, and captivating.

This will surely be the talk of the island for quite a while. Mr Perreau told Sports Nation that this show was a way for the SMC to announce its existence to the general public, but it served also as a promotion for the art or hobby of modifying cars.

He added that they wanted to send a message to the authorities that they are not all trouble makers, but that quite a few of their members are prominent individuals who share the passion of modifying cars.

Mr Perreau also mentioned that the SMC community would like to someday acquire a place to build a track for themselves, or possibly be allocated a plot of road whereby they can close off when they have races.

This Sunday afternoon was anything but boring. Roaring engines, flaming exhaust, burning tyres, the afternoon was one well spent.

I look forward for the next instalment of the Seychelles modified cars show, and hope that maybe next time we may be treated to some drag races, burnout competition, or donut competition.
So, hopefully until next time.

K. B.