From One Obsessed Mini Owner to 60+ Members in Months

Some car clubs start with a committee, a constitution and a WhatsApp group nobody really knows who created. Club M started with something considerably simpler: one bloke who was seriously obsessed with his Mini.

Founder Sakhile, better known on social media as Ess Man GP, loved his car. But he also noticed something that probably sounds familiar to plenty of enthusiasts, there were plenty of Minis on Gauteng's roads, but not necessarily many people sharing that passion.

“I was obsessed with the car, but not many people were sharing that passion,” he recalls. “I realised, why do we have to be scattered? We’re a quirky, niche community.”

So instead of waiting for somebody else to create a club, Sakhile started making content, talking to owners and doing something that has become increasingly rare in the age of social media algorithms, actually talking to people.

At first, there were only three or four owners getting together because they enjoyed driving their Minis.

Then things got a little more interesting.

The Club M recruitment strategy was hardly complicated. Spot another Mini on the road? Flash the lights. If necessary, follow it until you can pull over safely, have a chat, exchange numbers and invite the owner along.

It may sound slightly chaotic.  BUT... it also worked.

Within just five to six months, the Gauteng branch had grown from those first few owners to more than 63 active members.

And the wider network has grown with it. Across South Africa, affiliated Mini groups now account for roughly 150 to 160 people, with active chapters in Cape Town, the Northern Cape and elsewhere.

Not bad for a club that effectively started by chasing Minis around the suburbs.

From Random Drives to Proper Mini Runs

As Club M grew, somebody eventually had to make sure all those wheels were actually turning in the same direction.

That's where Neo came in, taking on much of the administration and event management while helping move the club from spontaneous get togethers towards properly organised outings.

Neo also launched the group's Instagram presence under the name Minifest South Africa which actually seems to be a global movement looking at social media and giving Club M another way to showcase what the community was getting up to.

Working alongside the core team, including Alex, or “Big Bro” as he's affectionately known, the club has managed to add some structure without losing the atmosphere that made it appealing in the first place.

And that's probably important.

There are plenty of car clubs where the cars are impressive but the people can make you feel like you've accidentally parked in the wrong place.

Club M seems to have gone in the opposite direction.

The meets are still about talking about cars, sharing food, getting to know other owners and, of course, admiring a row of Minis that can range from immaculate examples to daily drivers that are very much still works in progress.

Weekend runs to places such as Kyalami Shizayama have become regular fixtures, giving members an excuse to stop talking about driving their cars and actually go and drive them.

Any Mini. Any Owner. Come As You Are.

One of the things that stands out about Club M is how deliberately uncomplicated the entry requirements are.

You don't need the newest Mini.

You don't need a perfectly restored classic.

You don't need a car covered in expensive modifications.

And, thankfully, nobody seems particularly interested in how much money you've spent on it.

Classic or modern. Clubman or Countryman. Show car or project car.

If it's a Mini and it runs, you're welcome.

That openness has allowed smaller communities to develop naturally within the bigger club.

Cooper Chicks, for example, gives female Mini owners their own space while remaining part of the wider Mini community.

It's a sensible approach. Big enough to provide a proper network, but still small enough that members can actually get to know one another.

And perhaps that's the real attraction.

You're not simply adding another group to your Facebook feed. You're potentially gaining a bunch of people who will actually notice when you turn up.

It's Not All About the Cars

For all the enthusiasm surrounding the Minis, Club M isn't just about polished cars, weekend drives and arguing about which generation is best.

The group has also made giving back part of what it does.

Charity runs have included donating school supplies to a local school and supporting an orphanage.

There's nothing particularly flashy about that, and perhaps that's the point.

It's practical community involvement rather than a publicity exercise.

People get together, they have some fun with their cars, and when there's an opportunity to help somebody else along the way, they do it.

So What's Next for Club M?

Club M is still a relatively young organisation, but its growth has already caught the attention of the wider automotive community.

Discussions are underway around formalising relationships with broader automotive networks as well as BMW/Mini South Africa.

Whether those discussions ultimately turn into something bigger remains to be seen.

For now, Club M doesn't seem to need much convincing that what they're doing works.

More than 60 active Gauteng members in a matter of months is a pretty decent starting point, and the wider network is already considerably larger.

But perhaps the best thing about Club M isn't the numbers.

It's the reason those numbers exist in the first place.

One Mini owner saw another Mini owner driving past and thought, Why are we all driving around separately?

So he did something about it.

No complicated strategy. No corporate launch. No grand master plan.

Just a passion for a slightly quirky little car, a willingness to talk to strangers, and apparently a willingness to chase another Mini down the road to recruit its owner.

And sometimes, that's how proper car communities are built.

If you're a Mini owner in Gauteng and you've been looking for more than another Facebook group or the occasional official event, Club M might be worth finding.

After all, you could carry on driving past other Mini owners.

Or you could stop.

Look them up on Instagram.