Who is
Ace Customs
Ace Customs is a group of companies that provide automotive and marine restoration, modification fabrication and customisation services to the South African market.
The Ace Customs group is led by four passionate petrol-heads:
Wayne
Undercover Paper Pusher
Exner
Serial entrepreneur and fanatical perfectionist
Grant
The Oracle
van Schalkwyk
Champion racing driver and fabricator extraordinaire
Ross
The Boss
McKay
Electronics & tuning wizard (and general very clever car guy)
Barend
The Professor
Du Toit
Master detailer and paintwork expert
The Exner name was, in earlier generations, very well known in the vintage car restoration world. Welgemoed is also well known in the audio and customisation industry having worked at several large shops.
In 2015, the motorsport division of Ace Customs, Ace Customs Racing was founded – again by Exner but this time in partnership with Grant van Schalkwyk, the multiple championship winning racing driver and expert race engineer.
The van Schalkwyk name is synonymous with motorsport in South Africa with Grant himself being known in the USA, having spent time there as a NASCAR driver and race engineer.
And then, in 2021 Ace Customs Auto was born. Having needed a master mind to head up the mechanical side of the group, Exner was quick to identify a more than ideal candidate in Vernon Bresler when he came knocking at the shop door.
Du Toit was introduced to Exner by a colleague in the industry back in 2017. Exner immediately identified Du Toit’s passion for perfection and uncanny ability to mix up his own crazy concoctions to achieve phenomenal results with paintwork (and all things detailing). In 2019 Du Toit undertook to build a detailing bay (with his own two hands) at the Ace Customs shop in Edenvale. The result was nothing short of perfection. Having a dedicated detailing division was always on the roadmap, but as a result of unforeseen developments, Du Toi decided to pursue other ventures. Then in 2022, whilst under immense pressure preparing cars for a show, Exner needed someone he could rely on to detail the cars to a “next level” level. There was only one option – The Professor! After two successful shows, Ace Customs Detailing was born and opened its doors mid-2022.
Mckay (RBTS Racing) had been tuning the Ace Customs built cars for many years. Exner was always in awe of his knowledge, not only in tuning, but in electronics, engine building and pretty much every facet of building (and racing) exceptional cars. McKay was sceptical of Exner’s “proposals” of teaming up, but after spending time together tuning the FrankenZ build, McKay realised that Exner was the real deal. The two have grown closer over time, with Exner looking up to McKay’s exceptional level of knowledge and is honoured to be able to learn from him and have his input in Ace Customs quest to push the envelope in building the most epic cars possible. In 2022 a formal partnership was formed and RBTS Racing now forms part of the Ace Customs group.
Together they all share a passion for all things… petrol-powered… or perhaps loud and fast…or perhaps anything with an engine, or more likely all of the above! What is clear is that this collective passion and a desire to make the Ace Customs group stand out from the crowd is what drives them.
What do
we do?
The Ace Customs Group is a “one stop” custom car shop which differentiates itself by offering a range of specialist automotive services, not commonly found in South Africa.
Ace Customs is the banner company under which the group operates and is a full-service automotive and marine customisation company.
Ace Customs specialist services include:
- Mobile audio-visual systems (including marine, motorcycle and ATV)
- Custom van conversions
- Interior customisation
- Wood, fiberglass and plastic fabrication
- Custom dashboards, centre consoles and door panels
- Lighting
- Upholstery
- Electrical system upgrades
- Gauge pods and mountings
- Body kits and accessories (sourcing and fitment)
- Wiring
Ace Customs Racing specialises in advanced mechanical, fabrication and motorsport related services, including:
- From scratch race car design and manufacturing.
- Complete race car builds (based on road car body \ chassis).
- Race car preparation.
- Race engine building.
- Advanced metal fabrication (roll cages, suspension components etc.)
Ace Customs Auto is the group’s mechanical restoration, performance and maintenance division.
Services include:
- Exotic, performance and custom vehicle maintenance and repairs
- Mechanical restoration
- Engine swaps
- Performance modifications
- Aftermarket parts sales (performance and specialised parts and spares)
Ace Customs Detailing is the group’s professional detailing and show preparation division.
Services include:
- Paint corrective polishing
- Ceramic coatings (including self-healing coatings)
- Xpel Paint protection film (PPF)
- Interior, chassis and engine bay cleaning and detailing
RBTS Racing is the group’s tuning and electronics division.
Services include:
- Dyno tuning (all ECU’s)
- Stand-alone ECU installation
- ECU remapping
- ECU diagnostics
As a group, the combined service offering allows Ace Customs to build, customise, restore, restomod, modify or tune almost any vehicle.
Where did it
all start?
WAYNE
Exner was born into a car family and from the early days was involved in vintage and veteran cars with his father.
With over twenty vintage and classic cars in the Exner stable in the late 80’s, his father unfortunately passed away and it was at that moment that Exner decided he would need to follow in his father’s car collecting and restoring footsteps. His first car, the legendary Opel Superboss was soon joined by another Superboss, this time with a turbo charger and shortly after that another Opel and so his own collection started, with bikes soon joining the mix. Two of his first three cars are still owned today, one (the Superboss) is being restored, with the other Opel becoming a Time Attack race car.
GRANT
Van Schalkwyk started his racing career at 16, in 100cc karts and then moving on to 125cc.
He won numerous titles in both classes and then moved on to single seaters. In 1989 he won the Castrol 6 Hour Endurance race in Class D for Ford Motorsport. In 1990 he won the prestigious Autoquip ‘Driver of the Year’ Award as well as the Stannic ‘Most Improved Driver’. Between 1991 and 2001 and he won numerous titles (too many to list), in several different racing formats. In 2002 he set the South African land speed record at a startling 388.538km/h, a record which still stands today (for a non-jet powered car). From 2003 until 2007 he competed in the local Wesbank V8 series, winning another title in 2005. 2008 was van Schalkwyk’s last pro-racing year where he competed in six NASCAR ‘Late Model’ races. After retiring from racing, he managed the Nissan Dealer team (350z’s and a supercharged 370z) as well as the Williams Hunt team (Chevrolet Cruze). In 2013, van Schalkwyk retired from motorsport. Well… retired until Exner got him fired up about a new venture that is.
ROSS
McKay started out his career in the motor industry at BMW, where he spent several years and qualified as a tech.
He left to join a well-known race shop where he was involved with building both the race cars and engines. It was here that got his first taste of dyno tuning. From there McKay spent time at two well know performance shops as the tuner. In 2005 he decided it was time to go it alone and he started RBTS Racing (the name being based on his family members – Ross, Bernadette, Tyrone and Shelby). In 2017 with one of their first E30 builds (supercharged 318i cabrio), Exner needed someone to tune the car. Welgemoed knew of McKay and RBTS Racing so it was decided that the car would go to there for tuning and this is where the relationship started. Since then, McKay tunes all of Exner and Ace Customs’ cars. In 2021, Exner decided it was time to get McKay on board with the Ace Customs group. After some arm twisting and negotiating, a partnership was formed.
BAREND
Du Toit, a game ranger at heart decided in 2014 it was time for a new challenge.
After taking up a position as a 4×4 driving instructor, he was, by sheer chance introduced to the then very new concept of “nano coatings”. He was, to say the least, intrigued by this new technology and started to do his own research. It was at this point that his journey into the world of automotive detailing started. By the end of 2014 he had already secured (SA) distribution rights for a then leading coating manufacturer.
The learning curve was steep, with Du Toit developing his own processes and even formulations in his quest for exceptional results. In 2019 his efforts were rewarded when he attained Feynlab Top Tier status. Mid way through 2022, Exner decided that Du Toit was the next piece in the Ace Customs puzzle.
Ace
Customs
Origin
Exner and Welgemoed met after Exner had spent many months trying to find the right shop to install an audio system into his daily driver, a modified Opel Kadett, his fanaticism for perfection dictating that not just any shop and any installer would do.
After visiting a well-known shop in Boksburg, where Welgemoed was working, Exner decided that Welgemoed was the man for the job. After that install, there was another and another, all into Exner and his wife’s growing car collection with Welgemoed being the only one entrusted with working on their pride and joy.
EARLY 2010
2013
In 2013, Exner was looking for someone to assist him with turning his Opel Kadett into a Time Attack car. After going through several suppliers, none of whom managed to get the car to where Exner wanted it, he was introduced to van Schalkwyk by a mutual friend in the motorsport industry. There was an instant synergy between the two of them with a master plan for the car being defined. The project was then unfortunately put on hold due to Exner having other (capital spend) commitments and the two of them lost touch for just more than a year. Then, when it was decided to reignite the Time Attack Project, as well as the long awaited (by van Schalkwyk) Ferrari 312PB replica, Ace Customs Racing was born!
2021
2022
2022 was a big year for Ace Customs, with Exner bringing to new subject matter experts onto his team of legends. First (Professor) Du Toit to head up the detailing division and then (The Boss) McKay who brings a wealth of tuning, electronics and engine building knowledge to the already epic team. McKay will head up the tuning division in the form of RBTS Racing. These two new divisions represent big steps towards Ace Customs being able to provide all the required services (for building custom cars and race cars) in-house.
2024
2025
At the end of 2025, Bresler left the Ace Customs team to pursue other ventures, whilst Exner continues to lead the team of legends.
The team continues their quest to build worldclass custom cars and race cars.
Why the 'Ace'
in ace customs?
The Ace itself has many meanings, but the key ones relating to the decision to use ‘Ace’ were “referring to holding the trump card of all” and “not caring for anything lesser”. The Ace is also traditionally the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards and is most often associated with ‘high-quality and \ or excellence’.
The Team
Nothing would be possible without the team of legends that work behind the scenes building, restoring, fabricating and creating anything and everything required to make the builds that Exner and Van Schalkwyk come up with, a reality!
The small team, big on skills and heart comprises of:
Quinton Bush Mechanic Badenhorst
Ace Customs fabricator, parts finder and general get stuff done guy and the shop joker.
Tremayne Mad Skills May
Ace Customs fabricator, apparel designer and all-round go to guy.
Nelis Mr. Bru Rossouw
Ace Customs Racing mechanical tech and bodywork guy.
Bernadette Behind-the-Scenes McKay
RBTS Racing back-office, make everything run smoothly lady.
NB: Don't mess with her!
The team works tirelessly, always giving 150% to ensure that every build is of the highest quality!
In addition, the “team” that does the heavy lifting, working day in and day out without so much as squeak or a creak, is comprised of:
What's
Next
All we can say is – watch this space, big(ger) things are coming. The group is growing quickly, and this growth has resulted in the requirement for more space. So if everything goes to plan a 1000m2 plus facility incorporating the dyno, a spray booth, the race shop and a showroom will be the next BIG step.
For more information and to stay up to date with us, visit us on social media.