- Title: UGANDA: Garage in Uganda gives cars a "Pimp My Ride" makeover
- Date: 28th March 2014
- Summary: KAMPALA, UGANDA (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) GEOFFREY NAMUNYE, MECHANIC SAYING: "We don't put all the designs which are on the picture of the car, no. We put some parts, parts parts. So we can get like four parts from that picture, we put on the car, the rest of the design is ours." VARIOUS OF MECHANIC UNCOVERING CAR WAITING FOR SPRAY JOB NAMUNYE CLOSING DOOR OF CAR MECHANIC FIXING LIGHT INTO CAR (SOUNDBITE) (English) GEOFFREY NAMUNYE, MECHANIC, SAYING: "Other people they can't believe that we people we can make these things. So when they come here, even if they find you working on it, they would as you, 'from outside or?' But about people, for us we have even ordinary people, celebrities, businessmen, pastors, all we welcome them." VARIOUS OF NAMUNYE'S CLIENT DR. DAVID MUSISI AND HIS PIMPED CAR (SOUNDBITE) (English) PIMP MY RIDE CLIENT, DR DAVID MUSISI SAYING: "It is quite an undertaking, in terms of financial yes it is expensive because they have to choose the best quality of materials to use, as well as, I mean they cant use cheap inexpensive material for such beautiful artwork. But at the same time I wanted to encourage and provide incentives for our young people with talents. We have a lot of people with talent but they don't have a way to use it but these young boys they showed me that they have quite a talent." PIMPED CAR DRIVING PAST
- Embargoed: 12th April 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Uganda
- Country: Uganda
- Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA8V8S7IO1JIVNQQCR8T0LKS9L5
- Story Text: Mechanics at this auto body shop in Uganda's capital, Kampala are working on the next big reveal for a car whose owner thought it was time for an extreme makeover.
A fresh coat of paint is just one step in the process, some cars here have had the electricals overhauled, the body changed and the interior completely re-upholstered.
Fashioned around the popular MTV series "Pimp My Ride", mechanics here take cars that are in bad shape and give them a better image and feel, but they also take cars that just need a new look.
"You bring your car and I would ask if you have your own design, if you tell me you have then I will ask you to bring it, normally this designs we pick them from the internet, there is pimping cars for Europeans, you pick that picture and you bring me that picture," said Geoffrey Namunye, a mechanic.
Using the internet for some inspiration does not mean that the mechanics here aren't testing their own creative abilities, Namunye said. "We don't put all the designs which are on the picture of the car, no. We put some parts, parts parts. So we can get like four parts from that picture, we put on the car, the rest of the design is ours."
Namunye says the makeovers can take as long as a whole year to complete, depending on availability of materials and how much money the owner puts down to keep the process going.
The entire process can cost over 3,000 US dollars.
Uganda, like other African economies has a growing middle class with more money to spend on goods and services considered luxuries. A Ministry of Finance Status report two years ago indicated growth in Uganda's middle class from 7.8 million in 2006 to 10 million in 2010.
"Other people they can't believe that we people we can make these things. So when they come here, even if they find you working on it, they would as you, 'from outside or?' But about people, for us we have even ordinary people, celebrities, businessmen, pastors all we welcome them," said Namunye.
One of Namunye's customers is David Musisi, a Kampala based doctor. He says the success of a garage like Namunye's shows there is talent in Uganda and encouraged more young people to tap into their unique abilities to support themselves.
Uganda has one of the highest unemployment rates in Africa.
"It is quite an undertaking, in terms of financial yes it is expensive because they have to choose the best quality of materials to use, as well as, I mean they cant use cheap inexpensive material for such beautiful artwork. But at the same time I wanted to encourage and provide incentives for our young people with talents. We have a lot of people with talent but they don't have a way to use it but these young boys they showed me that they have quite a talent," said Musisi.
The resale value of the cars goes up once they have been transformed, Namunye says. Many are made sturdier to match the large potholes commonly seen on Kampala roads. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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