Mercedes’ finest star at George Old Car Show

With a central display boasting seven Mercedes-Benz 300SL roadsters and topped by a magnificent Mercedes-Benz Gullwing, this year’s George Old Car Show has gone down as one of the country’s most memorable celebrations of classic cars.

Words and photography: Graeme Hurst

The annual fixture over the second weekend in February was hosted by the Southern Cape Old Car Club at George’s Eden Technical High School. Held annually since 1997, the show featured a German theme and the organisers pulled out all the stops to make it happen.

• Find a classic car to buy for yourself!

Along with a resident oompah band (and a raft of stalls flogging Bratwurst and Eisbein) they presented what is undoubtedly the largest grouping of examples of the iconic 1950/60s sports car in the country to date. Situated under a central tent with the Gullwing, these Stuttgart beauties weren’t cordoned off, meaning show goers could get up close to two of Mercedes’ finest designs.

The unique-in-SA Gullwing  the lightweight racer-based sports car that sired the open top variant and indeed the entire SL model legacy from Stuttgart – is a recent import by a well-known collector in the Cape. It looked exceptionally captivating with its tartan upholstery offset by the rich cream paintwork, described by one enthusiast as ‘looking every bit as delicious as Woolworths custard!’

Adding to the display of the three-pointed star fare was a strong turnout of production Mercedes-Benzes including a line-up of ‘fintail ‘saloons while early Benz models (before the name was hyphenated with Mercedes) included a 1901 Benz Ideal  the oldest licensed four-wheeled car in the country – and a replica of the original 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen. One of a batch built for the marque’s centenary in 1986, it was exhibited by Mercedes-Benz South Africa.

Bolstering the show theme was a strong turnout out of other marques including Porsche – which fielded Porsche specialist Tim Abbot’s 1973 911 in cool ‘Targa Sani’ off-road spec – and a line-up of immaculate Borgwards, with saloon, Kombi and Coupé variants in attendance.

Also on hand was plenty of Munich fare with the BMW display featuring everything from a 2002 Touring to a stunning 850i, while more historic standouts included Nick Middelmann’s 1936 BMW 319/2. This pretty, two-door saloon impressed for its unique history in SA motorsport: back in the 1950s it was owned and heavily tuned by a young Ewold van Bergen who would go on to secure four SA Rally Driver Championships!

Not to be outdone was the gathering of Volkswagens with everything from the oldest VW Beetle (still boasting its black-and-white OIL licence plate from Sasolburg nogal!) to several Karmann Ghias and VW Kombis taking to the field. The field of these famous people-carriers was spearheaded by Capetonian Ryan Walker whose father Lindsay gifted him a 1962 Splittie for his seventh birthday! Some 23 years on, the Splitty has since been restored and served as Ryan’s wedding car. It was parked up alongside his 1974 Devon Camper, which looked ever-so-Seventies in orange and with its striped upholstery.

Ryan and his father were part of a group from Cape Town’s Crankhandle Club who made a road-trip out of the annual event – as did several other Capetonians who were part of the ‘Knobs out Tour’ which featured a broad church of cars, from Brian Berrill’s Magnum PI-spec Ferrari 308 to Barry Fletcher’s best-of-British Austin-Healey 3000!

As expected the Healey was one of several British classics at the event, some of which have amazing histories such as Delarey Calitz’s 1959 Morris Minor Traveller. It was bought new in England by a then-64-year-old widow who toured the UK with it before returning to her native Zimbabwe the same year. She then went on to enjoy the car for 80,000 miles over the next 27 years without the engine being opened!

Also boasting some Zim heritage was Alex Krahé’s 1963 Jaguar Mk2 which was exported new to Bulawayo only to have its 3.4-litre engine taken out so that its owner could drop in a triple carb, 4.2-litre E-type unit for added oomph. The said owner happened to be Formula One hot-shoe John Love…

Not all the British fare was instantly recognisable, mind: Brian Gibson’s 1962 Triumph Italia 2000 Coupé at the show was one of 330 TR3s bodied in Italy by coachbuilder Alfred Vignale. It was aimed at the discerning buyer who wanted Italian styling but the ease of ownership from a running perspective and Brian’s example was originally delivered to the Middle East before coming to SA in the mid-1970s.

Even rarer was the attendance of not one but two VW Hahn SPs, the early 1970s low-slung glass fibre re-body of a VW Beetle. Technically the Hahn was a production car albeit brief with just five made.

Also unique to SA – but available in greater numbers off the showroom floor – was Francois Grobbelaar’s immaculate 1973 Ford Granada Perana. The V8-engined saloon is stunningly original, down to its Basil Green Motors dealer sticker on the rear windscreen.

Original, immaculate cars were actually one of the show’s standouts and fittingly many tied in with the show’s German theme, including a 1991 VW Jetta CLI with just 41,000kms on the clock; the car having been recently acquired from a deceased estate by a Worcester car dealer.

Its highly unmolested state was impressive but was no match for one of the show’s absolute standouts: Gert Janse van Rensburg’s 1981 Microbus CI Camper which has only covered 26,000 kms from new. Also acquired from a deceased estate, the original SA-conversion camper came Gert’s way with all its original interior fittings and sales brochures, along with a cupboard full of dry household goods such as a box of OMO still with its R1.62 price tag and a tin of Nugget shoe polish – which set the VW’s owner back the princely sum of 20c!