Volume I 31 May 2026 · Johannesburg Cars, considered.
An independent automotive publication

Cars, considered.

We love cars, and we suspect you do too. This is independent writing on the cars, the industry, and the people who make them, by people who care about all three more than is strictly reasonable. We hold clear views and back them with specifics, and when better evidence turns up we are glad to change our minds. Mostly, we are here for the same reason you are: the cars themselves, treated with honesty, real craft, and the odd laugh along the way.

Edited by Guy Varrick · Established 2026

I. From the editor

What this is

Tread Automotive is an independent publication about cars and the world around them: the state of the industry, the cars worth your time, the engineering and design done well, and the culture we all share as enthusiasts. We write it the way you would want it explained by someone who knows their stuff and respects yours. Clearly, with a point of view, and without wasting a minute of your time.

Independence is the part that makes the rest worth reading, so we keep it structural rather than promised. No manufacturer pays us, and no advertiser decides what we say. We write from Johannesburg and hold South Africa to the same standard as Stuttgart or Shanghai, because the view from here is worth having and you deserve nothing less.

We get things wrong sometimes. When we do, we say so and fix it where you can see it. The cars, the industry, the culture, considered properly and enjoyed along the way. That is the whole of it.

Guy Varrick · Editor · Johannesburg

II. The latest work

Reading now

All writing →
A bright green BMW M4 shot low from the front at a motoring show.
Industry · The lead piece

The Chinese cars are here. South Africa is the front line.

BYD, Chery, GWM, Omoda, Jaecoo. The first wave of Chinese manufacturers did not arrive in South Africa this year. It is already entrenched, and the legacy brands are answering a generation too slowly. What the next twelve months hold, read from a market the rest of the world's motoring press still treats as a footnote.

By Guy Varrick · 12 min read · May 2026
A matt military-green Audi RS6 Avant with roof-mounted lamps, parked at a motoring show.
Review

The facelifted Porsche 911, considered.

Porsche did what Porsche does and refined the 911 rather than reinventing it. After a week with the 992.2 Carrera GTS and its T-Hybrid system, the question is not whether the car is good. It is whether better than before is still the same thing as what a 911 should be.

By Guy Varrick · 9 min read
A red and white liveried Volkswagen Polo track car, shot low at night.
Position

Why Tread Automotive does not attend manufacturer launches.

The flights, the hotels, the pre-cleared talking points, the quiet dependence on the next invitation. Most motoring journalism is compromised before a word is written. Here is what refusing those terms costs, and why it is worth paying.

From the editor · 6 min read
III. The dispatch

A letter, most Fridays.

A short letter from Guy Varrick most Fridays, on what mattered that week across the cars, the industry, and the culture. Written to be read in a few minutes, and worth the few it takes. We will not clutter your inbox, and you can leave whenever you like, in a single click.

We will not sell, share, or misuse your email. One click to unsubscribe.

IV. On Instagram

@treadautomotive

The photography, the cars in front of us, and the work as it comes together.

Close detail of the headlight on a bright green BMW coupe. The rear of a Ford Mustang on the skidpan at Swartkops Raceway, cones laid across the tarmac. A red and white liveried Volkswagen Polo track car, shot low at night. A silver classic MG photographed head-on on gravel.