Following its recent Art of Rest experience at The Leonardo Spa, which focused on sound therapy, skincare rituals and slowing down, the group’s second curated event takes a slightly more playful approach to wellness. This time, the emphasis is on indulging the senses, with a little fashion thrown in for good measure.

The afternoon begins with a welcome drink called The Indulgence before guests explore an unusual gin and skincare pairing. Instead of the familiar gin-and-tonic combinations, the experience matches gin with personalised ampoules from German skincare brand BABOR.

For those unfamiliar with ampoules, they’re small, concentrated doses of skincare formulated to address particular skin concerns. How exactly they pair with gin remains to be seen, but it’s certainly a more interesting proposition than the usual spa refreshments.

There will also be bubbles and canapés throughout the afternoon, alongside a fashion installation by South African label ERRE, bringing another creative element to the experience. The event is presented in partnership with BABOR, Thalgo, QMS and ERRE.

“I want our events to mean something to our guests: moments that stay with them long after the last sip,” says Natalia Fernandez, marketing manager at Legacy Balance Spas. “The Art of Indulgence is our second curated experience, designed to delight every sense, and there is much more to come.”

The setting is the DaVinci Spa, located at the DaVinci Hotel on Nelson Mandela Square. Part of the Legacy Balance Spas portfolio, it offers six treatment rooms, a hydro pool, relaxation facilities and a range of facial and body treatments.

The Art of Indulgence runs from 4pm to 7pm on Thursday, November 5, and is an invitation-only event.

WIN A little indulgence, courtesy of Legacy Balance Spas

Fancy a little pampering of your own? Wanted has teamed up with Legacy Balance Spas to give three lucky readers the chance to enjoy some well-deserved indulgence.

The grand prize is a one-night stay for two at The DaVinci Hotel in Sandton, including breakfast and a 60-minute aromatherapy massage for two at DaVinci Spa. The experience also includes a glass of champagne on arrival, access to the spa’s relaxation area, and refreshments and snacks.

Two additional winners will each receive a pair of invitations to The Art of Indulgence on November 5, where they can enjoy the gin and personalised BABOR ampoule pairing, bubbles, canapés and ERRE fashion installation.

To enter, head over to @wantedonlinesa on Instagram, find our giveaway reel and follow the instructions.

Entries close at 5pm SAST on October 29 2026, with winners selected and contacted on October 30.

Terms and conditions

• The competition is open to Johannesburg residents aged 18 or older. Employees of Wanted Magazine and Legacy Balance Spas, their immediate families and anyone directly involved in administering the competition are excluded.
• No purchase is necessary. Entrants must follow @wantedonline and @legacybalancespas, like the giveaway reel and tag someone in the comments. Multiple tags are permitted, but only one entry per person will be counted.
• Three winners will be selected at random, with a maximum of one prize per winner.
• The grand prize includes one night’s accommodation for two at The DaVinci Hotel, breakfast, two 60-minute aromatherapy massages, a glass of champagne on arrival, access to the spa relaxation area, refreshments and snacks.
• The hotel stay and spa treatments must take place on the same date and be redeemed before December 31 2026. Weekends, public holidays and peak periods are excluded. Bookings are subject to availability.
• The two invitation prizes are valid only for The Art of Indulgence on November 5 2026 and cover the experiences and refreshments included in the event programme.
• Transport, additional meals, drinks and personal expenses are excluded unless otherwise specified.
• Prizes are non-transferable, non-exchangeable and cannot be redeemed for cash, subject to applicable law.
• Entries close at 5pm SAST on October 29 2026. Winners will be selected at random on October 30 and contacted via Instagram direct message. An alternative winner may be selected if no response is received within 24 hours.
• Wanted Magazine may amend, postpone or cancel the competition where reasonably necessary, subject to applicable law, and is not responsible for entries lost or delayed due to technical issues beyond its reasonable control.
• Winners’ personal information will be used only for competition administration and prize fulfilment, in accordance with applicable privacy laws.
• This competition is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Instagram. By entering, participants release Instagram from responsibility in connection with the competition.

Wanted

The kitchen belongs to Massimo Bottura, widely considered one of Italy’s most celebrated chefs. His three-Michelin-star flagship, Osteria Francescana in Modena, has twice been ranked the world’s best restaurant. Gucci Osteria is his collaboration with the Italian fashion house and earned its own Michelin star less than two years after opening in 2018.

The restaurant sits inside Palazzo Gucci, a 14th-century palazzo on Piazza della Signoria, Florence’s political and Renaissance heart, just a short walk from the Uffizi Gallery. The building also houses the Gucci boutique, a bookstore and the Gucci Storia exhibition. What was once largely a retrospective space celebrating the brand’s archives has been reinvented as a living cultural destination, and a walk through is an experience in itself, tracing the fashion house’s history back to its Florentine roots. You’ll find displays of handbags, scarves and clothes, alongside a boutique where some pieces are bespoke and unavailable elsewhere.

Access to the restaurant for dinner is only possible at dusk, through the eclectic bookshop. It’s worth spending a few hours beforehand soaking up the piazza and wandering through the museum. As evening falls, the bookshop closes and quietly transforms into the restaurant’s entrance.

Historically, an osteria was a simple tavern — somewhere travellers could eat, drink wine and rest; less formal than a ristorante, but a step up from a café or bar. This is no traditional osteria in that sense. It’s a Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurant that draws on the warmth and hospitality of an osteria, while operating at a very different level, with gastronomy, design and fashion woven together. Even the dishes on the tasting menu carry cultural references and wordplay.

The space is intimate, with about 50 seats, decorated in the brand’s signature green with playful design touches throughout. Nearly every piece of tableware, from dinner plates to dessert plates and coffee cups, is custom-made by Ginori 1735, the historic Florentine porcelain house owned by Kering, Gucci’s parent company. The crockery patterns fold classic Florentine porcelain craft into Gucci’s herbarium motif — floral and faintly whimsical.

The space isn’t overly sumptuous; rather, it’s gently elegant, with a certain homeliness to it. Some diners dress up, though most don’t seem to. Service is attentive but unobtrusive, with an eye for the smallest details.

Dinner opens with three regional Italian breads, in keeping with the restaurant’s habit of elevating everyday staples: pane guttiau, an ultra-thin, crisp Sardinian bread brushed with olive oil, sea salt and herbs; long, feather-light Piedmontese grissini; and a bouncy, soft Ligurian-Emilian focaccia that melts in the mouth. “I feel sorry for people who don’t eat carbs,” my friend said, reaching for the butter and olive oil.

We began with Dits-Lieux, a champagne my friend, who knows a thing or two about it, declared the best she’d ever tasted. The amuse-bouche arrived in three small elements: a ricotta cannelloni (our favourite of the three); a take on vegetable soup rendered in dark chocolate as an interpretation of Italian espresso; and pralines of dark chocolate and toasted almond, something of a nod to the Italian breakfast — sweet and salty all at once.

Think Green is a salad built from 20 different leaves and greens, from arugula to centocchio, erigeron and begonia. It looks deceptively simple but rewards patience: herbaceous notes surface as you eat. Only afterwards do you recognise that the plate resembles a small meadow lifted from a garden, turning a salad into a meditation on biodiversity, sustainability and Italian agriculture.

Fuori Dalla Norma (“outside the norm”) reinterprets the Sicilian classic Pasta alla Norma, with aubergine, pecorino di fossa and cherry — but without a strand of pasta in sight.

Non Dire Cassata is served on a hand-painted Italian ceramic plate, and it’s a showstopper. Room-temperature spaghetti, lightly sauced, is arranged to look almost like dessert. It draws on one of Sicily’s richest sweets, the cassata, using spaghetti, pistachio and bergamot — a fragrant citrus grown almost exclusively in southern Italy. It’s Bottura’s style distilled: nostalgic and rooted in Italian tradition.

Memories of a Summer in Versilia (zucchini, fennel, tomato dashi) is the creation of the restaurant’s head chef, Takahiko Kondo, who is Japanese by birth but, after years in Italy, has become captivated by the rituals of the Tuscan seaside: long lunches, salt air and fennel growing wild by the beach.

My friend had Fungo! (mushroom, quinoa, salsa verde); we were both on the vegetarian menu, though I strayed for a small, delicious piece of steak. We skipped the formal wine pairing, but a glass of Castello di Monsanto Vigneto Il Poggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2020 complemented the meal beautifully.

Dessert was Orto di Venere (Venus’s Garden), with asparagus, white chocolate and spirulina algae, inspired by the Italian Renaissance and its imagery of gardens. A thin meringue crowns the dessert, while edible flowers and herbs echo the floral motifs of Renaissance painting. Avocado ice cream sits alongside. It’s one of the restaurant’s signature finales and possibly its most photographed dessert, telling a story about Florence, the Renaissance and Botticelli before you’ve taken a single bite.

To finish, we were served piccola pasticceria, the restaurant’s take on petit fours, including miniature sweets such as candied jellies and cantucci.

The Saturday evening of our visit drew an interesting mix of guests: a dressed-up couple in their mid-20s; a mother with two teenage daughters, both understated in appearance; an older fashion-conscious man in casual black with a long ponytail and a younger companion; two men dining together; an older couple; and a glamorous woman in Gucci shoes, sipping wine alone, who had changed into walking shoes by the time she left.

The soundtrack drifted from Serge Gainsbourg to Ain’t No Sunshine, adding another subtle layer to the atmosphere.

Gucci Osteria opened in January 2018 as a collaboration between Bottura and Gucci. It began with a friendship — former Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri, a childhood friend of Bottura, brought him in to build a restaurant inside the newly reimagined Gucci Garden. One friend went on to lead one of the world’s great fashion houses; the other became one of the world’s great chefs. Chef Karime Lopez made history there as the first Mexican woman to earn a Michelin star, an achievement that came within two years of opening; Takahiko Kondo stepped into the role of head chef in 2025.

Bottura is known for taking iconic Italian dishes such as tortellini, lasagna and even a Caesar salad — pulling them apart at the seams and reassembling them in unexpected forms. Many of his dishes read as memories or private jokes turned into food. At Gucci Osteria, his kitchen draws on the influences of wherever his collaborators have trained or travelled, while remaining anchored in Italian technique and the Italian pantry. As he put it when the restaurant opened: “Haute couture and haute cuisine are a recipe made in heaven.”

The restaurant has since expanded to Tokyo and Seoul, though Florence remains the original. It’s one of nine Michelin-starred restaurants in the city for 2026 and holds its own alongside more traditional Tuscan fine dining.

Gucci Osteria does something unusual. It takes the emotion of Tuscan tradition and turns it into a story told through Florence, a fashion house and Bottura. It’s an alchemy that lingers long after the meal is over.

gucciosteria.com

Wanted

Like its sister restaurant, La Colombe in Constantia, its home sits among vineyards and manicured gardens. But where La Colombe is more about white-tablecloth formality, La Petite Colombe is more relaxed — the tie-optional cousin of fine dining.

There’s a country-elegant sensibility to the space: tiled floors and wide, open rooms give it the feel of a trattoria with a modern-country edge, a legacy of the building’s original plan to house an Italian restaurant. A bar sits at the centre of the room rather than tucked away at the back, giving it a natural place in the flow of the night. The floor-to-ceiling windows, earthy tones and natural wood and stone complete the relaxed, grounded atmosphere.

At the back of the main room, organically shaped niches that once displayed pottery now hold a growing collection of awards, most from Eat Out and the Gourmet Guide — two of the most sought-after accolades on South Africa’s culinary landscape.

Head chef Peter Duncan isn’t chasing a signature ingredient so much as a fusion of cultures, cuisines and styles. Over the past five years, he’s built a kitchen that operates less like a hierarchy and more like a collection of inherited recipes, regional pride and personal history — his own and that of everyone working alongside him.

“It’s about telling our story,” he says. “But it’s also about what the people working under me bring. It’s important that this story is theirs too.”

Duncan grew up in Saron, a small rural town between Tulbagh and Porterville, where fine dining wasn’t something he even knew existed. That changed when a culinary school placed him on an internship under Margot Janse, who was among the pioneers of fine dining in the country, which led him to La Colombe, the flagship restaurant of the group he still cooks for today. Along the way he’s worked with some of the biggest names on the local scene, including James Gaag and Scot Kirton of the La Colombe group.

Duncan describes his approach to food as one of absorption, with a background that stretches from Ireland to the Northern Cape to the Eastern Cape, a dozen bloodlines converging.

He’s also quick to defer to the people around him. His sous chef Chris makes a version of atchar that Duncan admits is better than the Cape Town version he grew up with — so that’s the version that made it onto the menu. The same goes for chakalaka.

Travel reinforced that same instinct. In Spain and South America, Duncan noticed an unguarded pride in what’s actually on the table.

“We tend to put so much pressure on ourselves,” he says, “and forget that what we have is as good as what’s overseas. That should be celebrated more.”

That philosophy shows up in a menu that leans into ingredients most fine-dining rooms shy away from: smoked chicken liver, mopane worms and fish heads.

La Petite Colombe operates within the broader La Colombe group, founded by Kirton and Gaag. Kirton’s standard, Duncan says, is disarmingly simple: it should taste delicious. Gaag, by contrast, approaches food with rigorous technical precision — and Duncan describes chasing that same technical bar as one of his biggest ongoing challenges, alongside a good-natured, competitive rivalry that runs through the whole group.

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Everyone measures themselves against everyone else, he says, but it never curdles into pettiness. If one restaurant in the group spots an idea abroad that doesn’t suit its own menu but might suit a sister restaurant, it is passed along freely.

“We are in competition, but we are one big unit,” Duncan says.

Ask Duncan for his most-requested dishes and two stand out immediately — both pulled from the menu at some point, and both quickly reinstated after guests complained.

The first is simply called “the olive”, born from the Barcelona bar snack known as the gilda: an olive, anchovy, and pepper on a skewer. Duncan’s kitchen blitzes those classic ingredients into a liquid, freezes it in an olive-shaped mould, then dips the frozen centre in cocoa butter so it looks like an olive from the outside and bursts with that same briny, savoury liquid the moment it’s bitten. It’s vegan by design, so every guest can eat it, and it’s been on the menu for nearly five years.

The second is closer to home: a fish head soup built from a dish Duncan’s father — who worked in the fishing industry — grew up eating. It’s the kind of dish made in coloured communities from snoek, kabeljou and other catch that would otherwise go to waste, capable of feeding a family of four for a fraction of the cost of a restaurant meal.

Duncan’s father visited the restaurant in its first year and told him plainly he didn’t understand the “fancy” food or the language used to describe it. That conversation became the fish head soup’s origin story. Duncan took it off the menu once, decided within the year it had been a mistake, and put it back on.

Those same instincts shape the restaurant’s winter menu, which swaps in more affordable, in-season fish — sourced from small-scale fishers via Abalobi — such as silvers or Cape bream, without diluting the storytelling or detail of the full seasonal menu.

As for dinner, guests are first led to an informal lounge area for a glass of bubbly and a snack course — the highlight being a beautifully presented, three-tiered wicker basket of small, flavourful bites. Laid out with red-and-white cloth, it has the feel of a picnic in miniature, with morsels ranging from a salmon bagel to Cape Malay vetkoek. Through the rest of the dinner, portions stay relatively small, but every course packs a punch.

Dinner for us starts with the bread course, which arrives with butter shaped into playful forms, a small, tasty flourish before the meal properly begins.

From there: yellowfin tuna with Kerala and masi served on a raised, transparent plate with garden-fresh greens. A grain course with masala pork and bisque (a delicious tortellini, in my case). Kalamansi with worm salt. Then, before the mains, a colourful tray of grapefruit arrives, from which guests are handed a touch of sorbet to cleanse the palate.

For mains: coal-roasted lamb with harissa and tagine or, for a R650 supplement, Karoo Wagyu with Jerusalem artichoke and truffle.

Dessert is a choice between Emmental, pear and sourdough or sweet mielie, popcorn and miso — we went with the Emmental, presented on a clay plate whose open holes echo the cheese itself.

A sweet trolley follows, offering mini eclairs, a burst of tangerine, or the playful “Tonka bar” – a bite of fudge packaged like a Willy Wonka bar, complete with an edible “golden ticket” tucked inside.

Wine plays an important role throughout, particularly for those who opt for the pairing — Leeu Estates’ own Mullineux label is among the standouts on the list.

Towards the end of dinner, shuttles and Ubers begin arriving to collect guests, several of whom had travelled in from Cape Town for the night. The estate is private, so there’s no option to simply arrive unannounced, but visitors can book a daytime lunch or a wine tasting at Mullineux and take in the estate’s manicured gardens and larger-than-life statues.

La Petite Colombe currently holds three stars from the Eat Out awards, and Duncan is aiming higher. But what drives him most, he says, isn’t the accolades — it’s watching staff who started with nothing go on to own cars, send their kids to better schools, move out of their parents’ homes and start building lives of their own.

“That, for me, makes me happier than any award we can get,” he says. “It shouldn’t get to a point where, as a chef, you compromise your staff’s happiness for it. Then it’s not worth it.”

lacolombe.restaurant/la-petite-colombe

Wanted

Some of what drives the trend is generational. Those aged above 40 still consume regularly. Research published in the UK shows that 23% of those aged 80 or more drink daily; likewise, 33% of those in the 60-80 age group. However, 50% of those in the 18-39 group only consume alcohol on special occasions (and 23% of them are now teetotal).

The reasons for this trend towards abstinence are complex and vary depending on the society, the availability of disposable income and, of course, peer group pressure. Propaganda trumpeting the perceived health benefits of abstinence undoubtedly plays a role: the World Health Organisation (WHO), long in thrall to temperance groups (a big percentage of its funding comes from bodies whose primary aim is prohibitionist) puts out a solid stream of disinformation — selective research cobbled together from aggregated data — claiming that “there is no safe level of alcohol consumption”. That moderate drinkers (as a group) live longer than abstainers (and overimbibers) is disregarded. The long-term objective of the WHO appears to be a blanket ban (along the lines of antitobacco legislation).

Lack of disposable income also plays a role. UK-based research shows that those earning more than £100k annually were more likely to indulge than those with less spare cash. Here the change might really be generational. Gen Z-ers may be battling to pay college debt and accommodation costs: if they need to relax, recreational drugs are readily accessible and often for less money.

Smartphone usage may also have contributed to the way under-35-year-olds interact. Many are less sociable and more withdrawn. Unlike their counterparts from the 1980s, for whom alcohol offered a way of overcoming their anxieties, today’s device addicts can retreat to an inner world — with no need to seek lubricants to break down their inhibitions.

Happily for South African wine producers (who are feeling no less beleaguered than their overseas competitors) our domestic market has proved surprisingly resilient. Yes, it’s down year on year, and trade is tough. But the volume decline is 10%-12%, about half of the numbers being bandied about in overseas markets. Part of the reason for this has been the swing to wine as the “universal beverage” of our new middle class. Studies over the past decade have shown that wine is the most gender-agnostic of alcoholic beverages, meeting the needs of men and women socialising together — as opposed to beer (for men alone) and gin or coolers (when women get together).

Research conducted at WineX last year showed the extent to which wine now occupies center stage for urban middle classes. Interviews with more than 200 of the 3,000 couples who attended either of the two public nights of the show identified an audience with an average age about 40, 50% or more of whom earned more than R40,000 a month. Eighty-eight percent of this group had at least one university degree and 47% of those interviewed were attending their first WineX — suggesting that there’s a real hunger to acquire knowledge of and a familiarity with wine. Most buy from wine stores, though 24% shop at wine farms and a similar percentage go online.

Compare this with France, where wine consumption has dropped by more than 80% since 1945 and more than 60% since the 1970s. The Cape wine industry may be battling tough market conditions, but it’s not yet facing the prospect of annihilation.

Business Day

We recognise the labels and know the prestigious names. We associate champagne with victory, romance, celebration and the finest occasions in life. But how often do we stop to wonder about the stories behind the bottles?

World Champagne Day, celebrated this year on October 23, the fourth Friday of the month, offers an opportunity to look beyond the familiar luxury labels and iconic houses.

Behind the glamorous reputation lies a remarkable history of independence, innovation and unconventional thinking, with some of its most interesting chapters written by remarkable women.

In 1805, Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin became a widow at only 27. At the time, women rarely controlled major commercial enterprises, but she chose to lead the family champagne business, building a legacy that extended far beyond the famous yellow label of what would become Veuve Clicquot. She helped transform the clarity and presentation of champagne through innovations such as riddling and pioneered the production of blended rosé champagne.

Perhaps her most remarkable achievement was her refusal to accept the boundaries of her time. And she was not alone. Across generations, women such as Louise Pommery of Champagne Pommery and Lily Bollinger of Bollinger Champagne helped redefine the wine’s style, reputation and place in society.

What united these women was not simply their ability to produce extraordinary champagne, but their determination to do things differently. That spirit of independence remains very much alive in Champagne today.

Champagne is home to some of the world’s most prestigious luxury brands. Their contribution to building its international reputation is undeniable. Yet behind those famous houses lies another story of champagne: one shaped by families who have cultivated the same treasured vineyards for generations, by winemakers who know individual parcels intimately, and by producers whose names may never appear on a billboard or beneath a branded umbrella. These are the independent growers and boutique houses.

Some make champagne from grapes grown primarily in their own vineyards. Others are smaller independent houses, sourcing fruit from carefully chosen sites. Their approaches and styles differ, but many share a desire to express a distinctive identity rather than reproduce a familiar house style.

The result can be wonderfully individual. One champagne might express the chalky precision of the Côte des Blancs, another the generous pinot noir character of the Montagne de Reims. Others reveal the personality of a single village, vineyard or vintage. It is a reminder that champagne is not only one taste, one style or one story, and that its diversity is something to be celebrated.

For decades, luxury was often associated with recognition. The watch everyone knew. The car everyone admired. The label everyone could identify across a crowded room. But there is another kind of luxury.

The quiet confidence of knowing something others have yet to discover. The pleasure of introducing someone to something unexpected. Of sharing secrets and stories. Not necessarily more expensive, but more personal, rooted in an appreciation for the unfamiliar.

Perhaps the real privilege is no longer simply having access to what everybody recognises, but understanding what makes something extraordinary in the first place. Champagne offers countless opportunities for precisely that kind of discovery. Prestige opens the door, but curiosity takes us somewhere more interesting.

Imagine a table on a warm October night. Jacarandas blooming in the distance, their purple blossoms lending colour to the landscape and a floral scent lingering in the air.

A familiar champagne sits alongside a bottle whose label few guests recognise. The familiar name attracts attention first. Then someone opens the second bottle and pours a glass.

Curiosity follows. Where does it come from? How was it discovered, by chance or design? Who runs the estate, and what choices shaped the wine? The conversation turns to its history, its distinctive character and the craft behind it.

Suddenly, the champagne becomes more than something to drink. It becomes something to talk about. Its price matters less than the pleasure of discovery, the taste and the story behind an unexpected find.

Perhaps that is precisely what World Champagne Day should celebrate. Not simply opening another bottle, but opening our curiosity.

Champagne has always celebrated life’s exceptional moments. But its own story is filled with people who made exceptional things possible, often by challenging the conventions of their time. From Madame Clicquot to today’s independent growers, that spirit of individuality continues to shape the region.

This World Champagne Day, perhaps the finest bottle is not necessarily the one whose name we recognise. It might be the one whose story we have yet to discover, offering us a new taste of the extraordinary.

sourceprivee.co.za

• Hervé Delabesse is the founder and CEO (champagne experience officer) at Source Privée.

Wanted

The white two-seater vehicle, developed in collaboration with CEO Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX, drove upside down on a ramp using a suction system, turned in the air and landed using built-in thrusters. Later in the event, it used the thrusters to jump over a truck and other vehicles, twisting in the air during the manoeuvre.

Some watchers saw the collaboration as Musk drumming up interest in a merger of the two big companies he controls, an idea he has explored by discussing their overlap.

The reveal gives Tesla a showpiece car after years of missed Roadster deadlines, but it comes as the company shifts its focus to self-driving technology and robotics, and days before third-quarter results that analysts say matter more to investors.

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“It was an engineering flex with no commercial value beyond embarrassing traditional carmakers,” Gene Munster, managing partner at Tesla investor Deepwater Asset Management, said on social media platform X.

“The Roadster event is the latest example of why Elon can’t wait to bring [Tesla] and [SpaceX] together,” Munster said.

Musk has played down the car’s importance to Tesla’s finances, describing it in 2023 as a “small potato situation” that would not “move the needle in a major way financially”.

But the car still carries symbolic weight.

“Tesla does not currently have a halo car, or high-performance luxury vehicle designed to showcase a carmaker’s best engineering and technology. The Roadster will be Tesla’s new halo car,” Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein said in a note last month.

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Viewers and witnesses gushed over the spectacle of the launch.

“That was the most insane product demo I’ve ever seen,” Tesla fan and investor Sawyer Merritt posted on X. “I just saw this in person, and I’m still asking how this wasn’t AI.”

Musk and other executives did not specify any target prices at Thursday’s event, though Tesla nearly a decade ago quoted a base price of $200,000 (R3.32m) for the vehicle.

Tesla’s reservation page for the Roadster after Thursday’s event showed a “Performance” version of the vehicle requiring a $50,000 (R825,148) deposit and a “Thrust” version with “acceleration thrusters” requiring a $250,000 (R4.13m) deposit. A “Rocket” variant, which Tesla says is “invite only”, is described as a single-seat model with a “full flight system”.

‘Halfway to the speed of sound’

The event at a SpaceX ​test site in McGregor, Texas, had all the elements of a classic Musk product reveal: dramatic music, smoke, mechanical hissing sounds and a launch countdown.

“This is the culmination of incredible work by Tesla and SpaceX engineers working closely together to make something that you haven’t seen in any movie,” Musk, wearing a silver Western-style belt buckle emblazoned with the Tesla logo, told a cheering crowd of enthusiasts and investors.

The Roadster can accelerate from 0-100km/h in less than one second and can hit a top speed of more than 370km/h, Tesla vehicle engineering chief Lars Moravy said.

“Definitely much faster than that,” an excited Musk said. “I think you’ve got to crack halfway to the speed of sound.”

The Roadster can also travel more than 480km on a single charge. That is less than half of what Musk promised in 2017, when Tesla first revealed a prototype of the second-generation Roadster and said that deliveries would begin in 2020.

The original Roadster, released in 2008 and on sale until 2012, was Tesla’s first electric vehicle (EV) and used a Lotus Elise chassis. It helped change the world’s view of what an EV could be. The company has since been known for its Model Y and Model X SUVs and Model S and Model 3 sedans.

The reveal of the second-generation Roadster comes amid a sharp shift in Tesla’s focus to artificial intelligence-led self-driving tech and robotics, from manufacturing cars for human drivers.

This year, Tesla stopped selling Model S and X vehicles to make space for production of its Optimus humanoid robots. It also launched Cybercab — a two-seater robotaxi that comes without manual controls such as a steering wheel, pedals and mirrors.

Tesla is set to report third-quarter results on October 21.

Sales of Tesla’s ageing lineup of EVs have declined over the past two years, though high fuel prices helped boost deliveries in the third quarter.

“The margin and cash flow numbers will carry far more weight with investors than anything they saw at the reveal,” said Josh Gilbert, lead analyst for Asia-Pacific at trading platform eToro.

Reuters

The 911 cannot be spoken of in general terms; it is a discussion that will inevitably drill down into the minutiae of model codes, distinctions between nomenclature and other intricacies.

So, if you say you are a fan of the sports car in the company of a serious devotee, best be prepared to expound on your favourites in great detail. Granular detail.

The sharp-eyed enthusiasts reading this will point out that the car pictured is the Type 992, which is the eighth-generation of the 911 series that was launched locally in 2019.

Technically speaking ― as we should be given the subject matter ― this is the 992.1, the first iteration of the breed. The subsequently updated version launched in 2024 carried the 992.2 internal designation.

More importantly, this is the Carrera T, which debuted in 2023. It is a specialised instrument (not that the basic Carrera lacks special status) aimed at the kind of buyer who knows the entirety of the 911 lineage codes by heart.

You see, the Carrera T is aimed at the purists ― it is slightly lighter than the standard car and is offered by default with a manual transmission. An uncommon thing in the modern era.

The T stands for “Touring” and traces its heritage back to 1968, when the original 911 T was built as a motorsport homologation special.

This being the 992.1 version of the T, it has the seven-speed manual gearbox, while the updated version went back to a six-speed. Those little differences are precisely the kind of thing you want to be able to remark on in banter at the next cars and coffee link-up. Oh, you could have also ordered the car with the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic if you preferred.

But hang on a second. Why are we behind the wheel of a 911 from a few years back? Firstly, the Vehicles section of Wanted Online is not just about the newest wares on offer but an appreciation of finer automotive experiences present and past.

And after all, Porsche did use the fitting tagline of “Timeless Machine” in its promotional materials for the 2019 992. As the rising values have proved, just about any example of the 911 has investment and collectible potential. Even the 996, with its runny-egg headlamps.

So back to the 992.1 Carrera T we are driving. It comes from the Porsche Approved pre-owned section at the Johannesburg showroom of the brand. The boss, Toby Venter, invited selected motor-noters to experience the pedigree of used examples bearing the famed Stuttgart crest.

“Used” almost seems like a misnomer because the particular GT Silver Metallic car we are driving has only around 8,000km on the odometer. It is a 2024 registration and is listed at R2,695,000. Part of the deal is a five-year/150,000km service plan and, like other Porsche Approved cars, it has a documented history and verified mileage.

We set off in the Carrera T toward the N1 headed for Witbank, then Dullstroom. Traffic around Fourways is usually a pain in the neck, but having a taut shifter to play with and a perfectly weighted clutch to modulate makes life more fun.

Sure, the footwork and hand action of a manual are the last things you want to be enduring in daily Johannesburg congestion, but when linked to a flat-six, twin-turbocharged engine, encased in what could be the most recognisable sports car silhouette of all time, the prospect becomes different.

As we leave the slog of town and join the freeway, there is an opportunity to drop a few cogs and wind up that boxer engine. There is something about the rhythm and vibration of the 911’s 2,981cc motor that speaks to the caveman part of one’s brain. The sound, the increasing pace, the knowledge that you can control the seven-speed lever with your own left hand. Probably akin to the thrill and reward of making fire for the first time.

Speaking of firepower, the Carrera T packs 238kW/450Nm and has a claimed sprint time of 4.5 seconds. Not that you will care much if the person in the Audi RS3 alongside beats you to the next set of traffic lights because the steering feedback, acoustics and near-telepathic reflexes of the 911 put the driver in a state of enchantment, where all you want to do is keep the odometer ticking over.

Amplifying the engine note in the T is a sports exhaust with a modified silencer. Lighter glass also lets the noise in better. Buyers had the option of foregoing the rear seats as a further weight-saving measure, but our car seemed to have a practical past owner, as the seats were retained.

In full diet mode, Porsche claimed the Carrera T was as much as 35kg lighter than the standard Carrera. As a charming nod to the past (and ostensibly another mass-shedding effort), the T has partial-fabric upholstery with grey tartan inserts.

The build quality of a 911, or any contemporary Porsche for that matter, is exquisite. Since this 992.1 is a bit less digital than newer Porsche models, there are more buttons to press and dials to turn, pleasing one’s tactile sense.

As for that seventh gear? Well, you can understand why they capped it at six with the follow-up iteration. On the freeway, cruising in fifth or even sixth seemed to be my default, and seven is just one too many ratios.

While some prestige marques have made radical direction changes in years of late, Porsche knows its audience and appears committed to keep delivering on long-standing brand hallmarks. That means a manual gearbox in a 911 is likely to remain a reality for the foreseeable future, but you can still go out right now and buy a new 992.2 Carrera T for the sum of R3,072,000 before options.

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The third-generation Audi Q3 went on sale in South Africa in June with 16 derivatives.

It’s a marginally larger car than before, growing 49mm in length and feeling roomier to accommodate five passengers. The boot capacity is also decent with an electric tailgate in the 35 TFSI Black Edition test car.

The new Q3 also brings more expressive body styling than before. Deep panel recesses and cut-outs filled with contrasting black plastics now characterise the monolithic silhouette. The Black Edition trim brings black model lettering.

The signature single-frame grille, too, as with all modern Audi vehicles, has grown larger and wilder, and is now flanked by beady new headlight clusters with sophisticated and playful matrix LED bulbs in front, and an active and even more playful OLED set at the rear. The Audi four-rings logo glows red.

Inside is a wholesale dashboard minimalism. Reduced dashboard buttons are replaced by capacitive switches, mood light strips, a colourful curved display screen, and a new wing-shaped pod placed behind the thin-rimmed, multi-function steering wheel.

This new cabin is an aesthetic and ergonomic treat and, along with the exemplary material build quality, it provides unequivocal proof that Audi still understands the heritage and ethos of premium fittings in a cabin that glows tastefully after sunset.

Luxuries include zoned climate control, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a panoramic sunroof, voice control, a decent sound system, easily accessible USB ports and navigation among the items used frequently. The storage nooks are also plentiful and well sized.

The 35 TFSI moniker denotes a turbocharged 2.0l four-cylinder petrol engine producing 110kW and 250Nm. It is paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic driving the front wheels. You can also opt for a diesel variant, with no electric or hybrid Q3 options on sale.

The petrol engine remains relatively hushed on the move, adding to driving refinement. The dampers, too, work excellently to soften surface imperfections for wafting or provide poise when you pilot the Q3 with added verve.

It has three driving modes — Balanced, Comfort and Sport — with major drivetrain components adapting to the chosen attitude. The Q3 is happy to cruise or confidently bullet through bends.

Comfort mode brings noticeably softer compliance, while Sport mode delays the transmission up-changes, but the riding texture remains pliant.

The Q3 tester also proved a frugal runner. Audi claims 7.8l/100km and an 800km driving range. We got even better at 7.3l/100km.

What we got a taste of was the excellent light assistance during nighttime driving. The matrix LED lights are some of the best we’ve experienced so far. They cover dark spots and react intuitively and rapidly to changing road and traffic conditions.

The Q3 also comes with an array of safety and driver assistance systems, including seven airbags (optionally nine), electronic stability control, tyre pressure monitor, electronic handbrake, reversing camera, blind-spot monitor and more.

The Audi Q3 Black Edition rivals cars such as the BMW X1 and Mercedes-Benz GLA200 and is priced to compete. If more options are required, there’s the hybrid Lexus UX, electric Mini Aceman, Volvo EX30 and Alfa Romeo Junior Elletrica Veloce to consider.

The Audi Q3 fights with heritage first, a roomy interior, refined and parsimonious engines, innovative night-time lights and a new cabin decor language. It’ll be an easier sell to newcomers to the brand, and a pleasing and satisfying update for loyalists.

Audi Q3 vs rivals

Lexus UX 300h EX, 146kW/188Nm — R957,100

Audi Q3 Sportback TFSI S line Black, 110kW/250Nm — R964,000

Volvo EX30 S/M Extended Range Plus, 200kW/343Nm — R968,400

Mercedes-Benz GLA200 Night Edition, 110kW/270Nm — R984,140

BMW X1 sDrive18d M Sport,110kW/360Nm — R896,212

Business Day

The Fiat Topolino has been named one of TIME magazine’s Best Inventions of 2026 in the Design category, recognised for its playful approach to urban transport. With its rounded proportions, cheerful appearance and rather modest ambitions when it comes to speed, the little two-seater is a reminder that getting from A to B doesn’t necessarily require a full-sized car.

And though the current Topolino is relatively new, the name has a history stretching back 90 years.

The original Fiat 500 arrived in 1936, when Italy was still some way from becoming the car-owning nation it is today. Designed as a small, relatively affordable means of transport, it was, according to Fiat’s own heritage archives, the smallest mass-produced car in the world at the time.

Its compact dimensions and rounded appearance earned it the nickname Topolino, Italian for ‘little mouse’ and also the Italian name for Mickey Mouse. The nickname stuck, and the car went on to become one of Fiat’s best-known early models.

Developed under engineer Dante Giacosa, the original Topolino was intended to make car ownership more accessible. It evolved through three series between 1936 and 1955, including the Giardiniera Belvedere estate version, which gave the little car a more practical role in post-war Italian life. By the time production ended, more than 376,000 examples had been built.

The Topolino eventually made way for the Fiat 600 and the Nuova 500, the latter arriving in 1957 and becoming a design icon in its own right.

Fast-forward to 2023, and Fiat decided the little mouse deserved another outing. This time, however, the Topolino returned without a petrol engine and technically without being classified as a conventional passenger car.

The modern version is an electric quadricycle, developed using the same basic architecture as the Citroën Ami. Its proportions are almost comically compact, measuring just 2.5m long with room for only two occupants.

Performance figures are equally modest. According to Fiat’s official specifications, the Topolino has a maximum speed of 45km/h and an electric range of up to 75km. Its 5.4kWh battery can be charged using an ordinary household socket in less than four hours.

The styling, however, is arguably its biggest selling point. Rather than trying to make the Topolino look like a miniature SUV, Fiat has leaned into its smallness. Rounded headlights, simple bodywork and a friendly face give it something of a toy-like quality, while the open-air Dolcevita version takes the idea even further with rope-style door replacements and a roll-back fabric roof.

It’s a design that owes as much to Italy’s history of seaside runabouts as it does to modern electric mobility.

The Topolino’s appeal hasn’t been limited to its appearance. Fiat says the model became Europe’s best-selling electric quadricycle in 2025 and has maintained its position in 2026, with particularly strong demand in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland. France joined that list in July, when the Topolino reached the top of its segment.

According to Fiat’s 2026 Paris Motor Show announcement, the model has attracted more than 40,000 orders since its launch.

For TIME, which evaluates inventions on originality, effectiveness, ambition and impact, the Topolino’s appeal lies in its rethink of what a city vehicle needs to be. Instead of adding more technology, more space and more power, Fiat has concentrated on making something small, straightforward and easy to live with.

“Topolino proves that even the smallest vehicle can carry a big idea,” says Arnaud Belloni, CEO of Fiat, Abarth and Lancia. “At Fiat, we have always believed that mobility should be a source of freedom and enjoyment. Topolino brings that philosophy to a new generation, combining the charm of Italian design with a simple, smart solution for everyday life.”

Of course, the Topolino has limitations. Its restricted speed and range mean it isn’t a replacement for a conventional car in every situation and its quadricycle classification comes with different rules and requirements depending on the market.

But maybe that’s part of the point. The original Topolino helped introduce a generation of Italians to car ownership by offering something smaller and simpler than what had come before. Ninety years later, its electric namesake is revisiting much the same idea, only this time the challenge isn’t getting more people into cars but finding ways to make short journeys without needing quite so much car in the first place.

And it doesn’t hurt that the result is pretty cute.

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