Over the passed week, a teacher working as a mechanic along Thika Road touched the hearts of Kenyans after he transformed an abandoned car into a posh double-cabin.
Jonah kale neyole popularly known as DB Cooper on social media, first posted the before-and-after pictures of the vehicle on Monday, October 31, revealing the Kabete Police Station which quickly went viral.
In an exclusive interview with Kenyans.co.ke, Kale, who is a trained high school teacher that ditched the chalk for mechanic tools, noted that the transformation set him back Ksh1.6 million.
The project formally kicked off in April 2022 when the teacher, through his company DB Cooper Ventures, successfully bid on the dilapidated police car and acquired it for Ksh400,000.
For a few months that followed, the car stayed in his garage as he shopped around for a prospective buyer who he finally landed and within 40 days, the project was completed.
"We went to bid for cars on auction, so we bought several cars. Each of the cars was going for Ksh400,000. It took 40 days to transform it but the car was bought in April 2022.
"We were still looking for money to transform it. the total from purchase to where it is, it consumed Ksh1.6 million," he explained.
The vehicle, which had a rusted indigo blue colour associated with the Kenya Police, now sports a sleek and shiny Basil green colour.
For Cooper, however, the transformation was just another project at his busy car garage located along Thika Road, where he has transformed over 30 cars since it opened doors in 2018.
He explained that he is driven by his love for cars and opted to transform the police car after learning that its showroom price tag was as steep as Ksh7.2 million.
"There are other cars that were transformed but they have already been sold. We have one that is under transformation right now. We have done over 30 car transformations.
"That car is very expensive in the showroom. It is about Ksh7.2 million. It was an admiration to own that and I decided to build mine from scratch. I started with the chassis to the body. The car is already with the client who paid for its transformation," he added.
The trained teacher, who also has a background in banking, explained that he joined the car industry full time to chase his dream.
He, however, admitted that lack of finances possess the great challenge to his business.
"I have never taught in class. I only did that during my teaching practice. I just have a passion for cars. I just run a garage specifically dealing with restoration such as painting and body works located along Thika Road. It is called DB Cooper Ventures.
"I have worked elsewhere but I just have a passion in cars so I wanted to do something that is personal. I have experienced finance challenges where I have a good car and I want to make it saleable but I do not have the money to complete the job," he pointed out.
To the youth, Kale advised them to endeavor to try out their passion projects since failure is part of growth.
"Do not wait wait for things to come, you should go for what you want. You should not be told that nothing is possible, try and fail first," he concluded.
