Picture a rusty 1957 Karmann Ghia, buried under ladders and junk in an old Johannesburg CBD warehouse. Most people would have kept walking without a second glance, but 16-year-old racing driver Chloe Stuart is not most people. Where others see a lost cause, she sees potential. That instinct is the entire engine behind Classic Cars by Chloe.
Soft-launched in 2024, Classic Cars was born from equal parts passion and practicality. Motor racing is expensive, and Chloe and her dad wanted to find a way to fund her career without being tied to a 9-to-5. With training, coaching, media events and race days filling the calendar, flexibility is everything, but, as Chloe puts it, “Money doesn’t grow on trees, but you can absolutely earn an income that works around your racing life.”
Chloe’s racing life takes her places most restorers never get to go. At Pablo Clark Racing, she came face-to-face with a Ferrari 250 mid-restoration. It was love at first sight. That encounter shaped her business philosophy: start with entry-level classics, learn cheap lessons, then work your way up to the cars that take your breath away.
Chloe’s current project list is a fascinating mix. A BMW 633CSi – one of only around 34 left-hand-drive examples ever brought to South Africa and a flagship collector’s piece. A BMW E30 Coupe is being stripped raw for the BMW M-Performance Parts Racing Series, designed to be the ultimate no-aids training car. A Rover P4 90 Series is being coaxed back to life. And then there’s the star of the show: the LemonGhia – a second Karmann Ghia shell found in that same Joburg warehouse as the Ghia beute, destined to become a rust-clear Nissan-engined endurance racer for budget racing series like iLamuna. It’ll be unlike anything you’ve ever seen on a race track – and that’s precisely the point.
Behind every build is a skilled crew: Jean-Louis Maraz (the official Clerk of the Course at Zwartkops Raceway) ensures every car is built legal and safe; Christiaan van Schalkwyk handles bodywork and mechanicals; and Wayne Jacobs of Extreme Detailing makes sure every car arrives and leaves looking its absolute best.
What makes Classic Cars by Chloe truly different is the model itself. Cars can be sold at any stage of restoration, and Chloe is exploring project shares and giving supporters the chance to invest in a build and share in the returns. Profit takes time, she’ll be the first to admit. But then again, the best things in life rarely go to those who brake early.
And big breaks are already rolling in for this determined teen. She’s preparing to launch Racer Girl, her first fragrance and has been personally welcomed into the Historic Tour, with organisers thrilled to have a young woman shaking up the classic racing space. And next on the radar is restoring one of the iconic old BP Nissan Primera Historic Touring Cars – a project just waiting for the right funding partner to come along for the ride.
