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How Meshen Naidoo almost gave up on the Golf 1 named “Santa Muerte”

The VW Golf 1 known to South Africans as “Santa Muerte” has gripped the drag racing scene for its bespoke decals and aggressive sound. 

But before Meshen Naidoo of Gauteng could take the 16 valve turbo down the quarter mile in 10 seconds, he almost gave up on his dream.

For over a decade, he thought the 16v turbo project just was not meant to be. But with the help of a close friend and some experts in the drag racing community, Meshen’s dream was realised. 

Santa Muerte before the transformation

Starting out in style

“It was the car I owned. I was 20 at the time and my father gave me an option between a C55 AMG and this. I chose the Golf because it was already fitted with a 16v turbo set-up and sound. This was in the early 2000’s so you can imagine what it was like driving a turbo golf,” Meshen said. 

The first time out, Meshen ran a 13.5 second quarter mile at Camps Drift race track in Pietermaritzburg.

It was precisely after that event that Meshen would come to learn a valuable lesson in drag racing. 

Hard Lessons

“When I first bought the car I didn’t understand the full financial responsibility that came with it. While in college, I worked at Mugg n Bean and also did perfume sales while studying just to save up and fix something on the car. I started racing and the car started giving me problems. Parts would break as it is in racing and it became a costly affair for a college student,” Meshen said. 

After graduating, Meshen left South Africa in 2009 to pursue work opportunities abroad and returned in 2011. He began racing again.

But again, Meshen would find no joy on the race scene because of, well…”soured relationships”. 

“I bought all of the best parts for the car while living in Gauteng. Thinking it was going to be complete, but the car never got built. I only got excuses about why the car was not ready. It sat with the guy from 2011 until April 2020,” Meshen said.  

“Over the years, the relationship just went from bad to worse and eventually I wanted to cut ties,” he added.

Brought to you by Hatfield Motors Amanzimtoti

At his wits end

By 2022, after a 11 year hiatus from drag racing, Meshen was ready to call it quits on the dream. 

Life was changing, the children were growing. Spending unnecessary amounts of money and time on a 750KG piece of metal just did not seem worth it anymore. 

“By December 2022, I was done with the project considered going the playstation route. I saw the success the playstation cars were having and thought about doing it,” he poignantly recalled. 

“In January 2023, I called Keith and offered him to buy the parts. I told him I was done with the project.

“Keith told me ‘this has been with you from the start, why do you want to give up now?’. He said give him a chance and he will be responsible for the project and see it through. I was reluctant because I did not want to destroy the friendship between Keith and I,” Meshen said.

“Keith said lets take it to this guy named Lance Pillay.”

Finding the right team

Team ERF racing at Dezzi Raceway.

“Before the meeting with Lance, I spoke to my wife. And she said to me ‘goodluck, I hope it works out for you this time’. When I went to his place and saw the cars he was building, my passion for racing was reborn. The cars he had sounded insane. 

“I told him everything that happened and he just asked me what my end goal was. I told him I wanted a 9 second drag car and he said ‘let’s go all in and transform the car’,” Meshen recalled. 

The BMW fan said he went for the Sao Paolo yellow to give new life to the project. Tony Grifo from Black Sheep Design came up with the sinister decals to align with the new nickname, Santa Muerte. 

“I am a huge fan of all the Narcos movies and tv series. El Chapo is my favourite guy. And I saw before he does anything, he goes to the Santa Muerte statue to pray,” Meshen jovially said. 

The engine bay on Meshen’s 16v turbo

Lance entrusted fellow race car experts. Janus Rebeckenberg of Cherry Bomb Factory, Arno Joubert “the Haltech guru” and Hendry from Kruger Worx.

Arno, Henry, Janus and Lance are the technical masterminds behind the cars performance, Meshen explained. 

“This car has a long list of parts in it. I think one of the most costly mods which was over R150,000 is the Haltech Elite 2500. Besides the expensive parts, the team behind the car have always given me more than 100% every time we go out. Their workmanship is class.  

Santa Muerte goes 10 seconds

“The first time we took it out after tuning, she ran 11.1. Fresh out the box. Then we practised at Rock Raceway and had some suspension issues. Janus set-up the suspension again and we then ran 10.26s @ 237 km/h. It consistently runs in the 10s now,” Meshen said. 

Despite taking the high road, Meshen finally crossed the trap in 10 seconds. He thinks the car and team are capable of a 9 second pass. 

“I’m positive we can get there with this team,” he concluded. 

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