COLLECTION: Second-Generation Passion

Outside Cape Town we visit a collector who has not only amassed an impressive array of cars, but who has furnished the building with all things relevant to his family’s history, the motoring world and other interesting historical objects. 

Words and photos: Wilhelm Lutjeharms

As I step into the barn, it is evident that there is a common theme running through the objects in the room. Apart from the cars, there is an evident interest and passion for history and tradition. Secondly, great effort has obviously gone into keeping these artefacts safe and in such a condition that they can be enjoyed and used by the next generation. 

Background

This collector grew up among cars and close to a father who already many decades ago enjoyed the journey of finding an old car, repairing it and keeping it running. I take a stroll through the collection and walk along the walls... there are newspaper articles of the work his father had done for the local town, artefacts from the family’s history and framed pictures of several cars owned in the past. Currently more drawings and pictures are hanged on the walls depicting various memories, highlights and events in the motoring world. 

• Find a classic car for yourself here.

There are some comfortable couches at the entrance and the collector points us in that direction for a talk that quickly illustrates his appetite for collecting classic cars, as well their repair and maintenance. There is also a strong sense of family history, as the collector is quick to point to pictures that have anecdotes attached to them, a memory or something which is of significance to him.

A family affair

“My late father grew up in Hopefield and he was one of eight or nine children. One day a Duesenberg came through Hopefield. My father kept nagging his father to go to Langebaan to look at the car as it was there for a period of time. They eventually went to have a look at the car, and I think that set the foundation for my father’s love of cars. He wanted to work on cars and the first car he got in the 1940s needed a lot of work, and then he started working on that car himself. Following that experience, he started buying old bicycles from the people in town, fixing them up and spraying them different colours. He then sold them. He also worked in one of the local shops for extra money – I still have the old till he used to work on in that shop.”

“He joined a company as the assistant to the mechanic and worked hard through the ranks until he became the managing director. At one stage he started his own business and built that up. During those years we had a truck and we would travel as far as Namibia in search of old cars. We even went to scrapyards to dig out cars that were half-buried!”

“We finished rebuilding a number of cars each year for several years in a row. When my father passed away, we had an auction and had to spend a lot of man hours getting the hundreds of parts ready for that. At the height of the collection, we had a few hundred cars.”

It is evident that it took years, a lot of searching and several years of hard work to have built up such a large collection. The collector shares how they eventually sold a large part of the collection to another collector, who is also based in South Africa. That hasn’t stop him from still being involved nearly full-time with his classic cars. “It is a hobby I enjoy, whether it is driving the cars or working on them – it is relaxing.”

“I’m busy with the full restoration of a Karmann Ghia with a specialist here on the farm. We are two years into the project now. That is what some people don’t understand, it takes a lot of time to restore these cars. In the end, when the car is done, it gives you quite a level of satisfaction.” 

One of the most recent additions along the museum’s walls are pictures from a sales manual of Buick. “Back in those days the pictures in the brochure were painted by an artist. I had them scanned and then printed. There is even a drawing of the car’s chassis.”

“One of my favourite cars is the beautiful red 1933 Chrysler Tourer. The previous owner wanted to build a hot rod from it, so when we found it, it was cut in two! People used to tell my father he was mad to restore it, but all those years ago a specialist in Strand restored it.”

Most of the cars in the collection, around eight, came from his father, while a few Peugeots in the collection belong to a fellow enthusiast. 

There is a rare Toyota Land Cruiser BJ and then there is an obvious interest in Buicks. “My father appreciated the Buicks, and I also have a strong interest in them. It is enjoyable to drive them, even though they weren’t the top cars of their time.” One of the most significant cars in the collection is a brown 1938 Buick that came from Johannesburg. I’m quickly reminded that the car is completely original and even has its original factory paint. Other cars include a 1939 Buick, Mercedes-Benz 280SE sedan (manual), Peugeot 202, 1962 Volkswagen Beetle, 1932 Chrysler and a 1955 Buick and an early-1930s Ford V8.

I ask him what he would like to add to the collection in future, if there were opportunities to do so. “A Mercedes-Benz SL ‘Pagoda’, a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible, an original Ford Mustang and then a Duesenberg… or something like an Auburn Boattail.”

It is clear that the collector is not only passionate about cars, but wanted this building to be a place that captures memories of his late father, artefacts of a forgotten era and be a place for members of classic car clubs to visit and appreciate. Having spent some time there, I think he has succeeded, as I just wanted to grab one of the old car books and make myself comfortable in one of the wingback chairs with a cup of tea.