Started in a garage. Stays in the Winelands.
Three friends, one stalled Polo on a hill in Stellenbosch, and an idea that learning to drive shouldn't mean burning the clutch, the cash and your nerves all at once. So we built a cockpit, hung a triple-monitor, and started teaching.
Three founders. One parking lot.
Cezarre Joubert
Stalled his mom's Polo once. Decided no one else should have to. Spent more time in BeamNG than at his desk.
Daniël Marais
Treats every clutch as a unit of inventory. Built our pricing model on a napkin and a calculator.
Johan Steyn
Welded the first cockpit at 02:00 in his garage. Has more screwdrivers than friends. Says that's fine.
A stalled Polo, a steep hill, a decision.
It was a Tuesday in March 2024. Cezarre had stalled his mom's Polo three times trying to pull off on the Bird Street incline. Behind him a delivery van leaned on the horn. Around him, learners just like him were doing the same on hills across Stellenbosch every single day.
That night, the three of us sat down at Daniël's kitchen table and worked the maths. Driving lessons cost R450/hour. Most learners need 30+ hours. That's R13,500 — before the test fee, the dings, the parents' insurance hike.
A simulator session would land at R350. The rig itself would pay for itself inside 60 sessions. We bought parts that weekend. Two months later we ran our first paid lesson.
Today there are two rigs in our Bird Street lab and a third on the way to Cape Town.
Three rules. No exceptions.
Patient by default
If you need 30 hill-starts before it clicks, we'll do 30 hill-starts. Every learner gets the same patience.
K53 — no shortcuts
Every drill aligns with the manual. No arcade physics, no 'good enough'. The test is the bar.
Built, not bought
Our rigs were assembled in the garage at Bird Street. We know every screw because we sourced every screw.
Calm in your ear. Brake in your foot.
Bird Street 64, Stellenbosch.
Drop in for a chat, see the rigs, smell the rubber. No appointment needed for a 10-minute tour.