About

ZA Car Show is a weekly motoring podcast focussing on mostly South African (with a bit of international) motoring news and reviews. It’s presented by Christo van Gemert, Trevor van de Ven and Patrick Gearing, with guest appearances from John Beale, Trevor Tuck and other motoring industry personalities. It’s a podcast by petrolheads, for petrolheads, with the guys being casual and conversational while doing their thing.

The regular ZA Car Show team members are…

Christo van Gemert

Christo van Gemert started life out as a little boy on the East Rand, so it only makes sense that big, be-winged turbo monsters became a part of his daily life. Being from the far East… of Johannesburg, South Africa, and a little town famous for Charlize Theron, his obsession with cars took a turn for the better when he started tuning Skylines and Imprezas. But this foray into the world of Gran Turismo on his Playstation was just a teaser of what was to come. Christo has been a journalist since 2002, with official car-testing duties commencing in 2006 – also the year he joined the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists. He brings to ZA Car Show a wealth of figures and stats, along with a taste for well-balanced performance cars and fun-to-drive city cars.

Trevor van de Ven

Trevor van de Ven, like Christo, also grew up on the Eastern side of Johannesburg, South Africa – something that should become immediately apparent when you see surnames prefixed with ‘van’. Trevor currently holds a position in the media communications field but, despite owning a couple of less-than-noteworthy cars, still cannot shake his obsession for all things car-like. This obsession was kindled early in his childhood with Sunday walks through the used car dealers in Boksburg and a dream became reality when Trevor got into journalism in 2003. It’s then that he realised even poorly-paid journalists can drive nice cars. These days, Trevor is a family man with an eye on fuel economy and practicality – he is perhaps the only member of the ZACS crew who tries to conserve petrol and gets excited about things like ISOFIX mounts and grocery-bag hooks in the boot.

Patrick Gearing

Shame, Patrick’s colleagues had to grow up under demanding circumstances. He, however, had the privilege of an upbringing in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs, surrounded by a collection of exotic and not-so-exotic cars – thanks to dad’s F1 career. The bug was contagious, and Gearing’s garage is a collection of mostly incomplete, but interesting, pieces of automotive history he hopes to have in driving condition one day. His decade-long career in motoring journalism saw Patrick win awards, travel the world on motor manufacturers’ budgets, and driving awesome cars. Gearbox, as he affectionately known by his wife and close colleagues, executed a perfect double lane change and now consults to those very same car brands. His insight into the car industry is what earned him a spot on ZA Car Show – well, actually, he doesn’t know much about anything other than cars. He quietly considers himself the sage of common sense on ZACS, admires Trevor van de Ven’s shortsighted love for SAAB, allows Christo to quote the incorrect figures, and reckons one day he might have a working Alfa Romeo Giulia racecar.