29 June 2016

He calls it The Bullet

Peter Amadi and his Subaru Forester at his workshop in Bunga, Kampala. PHOTO BY EDGAR R. BATTE 





By Roland D. Nasasira
Posted 


Thursday, June 30  

2016 at 

01:00



In Summary



When talking about his car, it is evident Peter Amadi, a mechanic and proprietor of Dalas Auto, loves his Subaru Forester. He talked to Roland D. Nasasira about the car, which he calls The Bullet.






When did you get this car?
In 2006. I’ve been with it for 10 years now.
Where did you get it?
I bought it from a friend called Edgar at Shs19m. It’s a UK manufactured Subaru.
How have you been able to maintain it since 2006?
You don’t need to sell a car because it is old. What matters is how well you service it and the extra attention.
What do you like about it?
The features are not usually found in any other Forester.
What features does it have?
A competition gearbox. This means that it has super quick gear shift. Its transmission system and double differentials are not ordinary. Its chassis was reinforced.
What do you mean by some parts are not ordinary?
It was built more like a rally car. The double differential rotates faster than the common differentials in other cars.
Any unique features?
It came with bucket seats that can be manually pumped to a position the driver is comfortable with. It has a sun roof, a vehicle dynamic control (VDC), turbo gauge, a gauge that monitors the charging system, a turbo timer and a blow off valve. It also has a competition air cleaner and an anti-roll bar that enables the car to gain stability in case you swerve. With an anti-roll bar, you cannot lose stability in this Subaru. The bar gets you back on the road. It is also a Subaru Technica International Forester, meaning that it was manufactured under the department that manufactures Subaru sport cars and has a TD7 turbo engine.
What is special about the bucket seats?
They have a small pump to adjust the seat to the level you want and this makes you feel like you are being massaged.
And the competition air cleaner?
I don’t change it often. It can go five years without changing unlike other cars that you have to change at every service.
Where do you get spare parts?
Order online and import them from UK.
Why the UK and not locally?
Some cannot be got locally in Kampala. Sometime back when I wanted to change the differential, I realised I had to import it from UK because I couldn’t get it from Japan. I also imported the differential seals, the gear lever and the clutch system from UK.
Isn’t costly for you to import its spare parts from that far?
It’s only the clutch system that was expensive. It cost Shs2.8m. I also had to import the engine under guard.
Have you received offers from people who want to buy it?
A gentleman from South Africa once offered me Shs22m but I rejected it. Many people have offered Shs20m but I also rejected their offers. Another gave me an ordinary Forester on top of Shs10m but I also rejected that.
What is the furthest you have been?
I have been to Dar-es-Salaam, four times to Mombasa, Kasese, Nairobi, Soroti, Kotido and Kapchorwa. Some friends once drove it to Rwanda.
Do you share it with friends?
I do but only from Monday to Thursday. On Friday and the weekend, I don’t share it because people go with it to bars. You have to prove to me that you understand how to drive manual cars for me to give it to you over the weekend.
What is its current mileage?
It is 170,000km. When I bought it, it was 64,000km.
What is the fastest you have driven it?
Sometime back I drove it at 224km per hour. A while ago, I was going to Soroti for a friend’s burial. I left Kampala late and wanted to catch up with the burial on time. When I reached Mabira Forest, I was driving at 198km per hour and I was given a penalty for that. I didn’t know that I was driving at that speed because I just kept on accelerating.
The fastest it has ever been driven was when my friend, Jibril Kibuuka drove it upto 240km per hour from Malaba to Busitema.
I was driving behind him but within a short time, I couldn’t see him on the road. He rang to ask me if the car could go beyond 240km per hour and I told him that was the maximum. He recorded it on his phone and showed me the recording when we reached Kampala. I was shocked.
What is your view on Ugandan drivers?
Most of them don’t observe the Highway Code. They over take recklessly in corners especially those driving numberless cars from borders. The Highway Code is an area where drivers should be trained. For example, why would a driver speed in a trading centre even when there are no humps? It is where you are supposed to reduce speed. Drivers don’t read road signs. Those who read them just ignore them especially when they are drunk.
Where do you service from?
I service it myself at my workshops in Kibuli or Bunga. I’ve never given it to any mechanic to fix anything.
Where does your love for Subarus come from?
I worked in Subaru Nairobi for 14 years before I worked at Kampala Motors for another 14 years.
When I came to Uganda, most people didn’t know how to repair Subaru cars because they were rare and I ‘suffered’ to teach them how to do it.






Hidden secret
What is the hidden secret that you turned down those offers?
When people look at its number plate in UAJ series, they think is old. Fine, it’s old but I have invested a lot of money in maintaining it over the years. It’s not easy to keep a car in a good road worthy condition for 10 years. I never allow it to run on a broken part for two days. When it develops a mechanical problem, even if it’s minor, I fix it immediately and I never replace it with a second hand spare part. I drive it to Kenya without any worry that it will break down along the way.








I had come to Uganda in 2000 for one year to train people on how to repair Subarus. However, when I got a print out from Uganda Revenue Authority, there were only 14 people who owned Subarus.
It was in 2001 while working at Kampala Motors when I started recruiting the technical team and started making sales to government, NGOs and embassies.
We only sold two Subarus to two individuals. By the time I wanted to leave Uganda, people had started buying Subarus and they saw me as an expert in repairing their cars well and wanted me to stay.
It was in 2007 when John Throttle, the CEO of Subaru East Africa decided that I take my leave. He trusted me 100 per cent that I ran all departments under him and I salute him for having trusted me that much.






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