SentiMETAL Gathering: Cape Town March 2020

The first SentiMETAL Gathering of 2020 in the Mother City attracted a beautifully diverse selection of cars to thrill the attending petrolheads. There were also a couple of surprise arrivals!

Photos by Gero Lilleike and Duwyne Aspeling

"The thing about these SentiMETAL meet-ups is that you never know exactly what will show up until the morning of the event," says Hannes Oosthuizen, Cars.co.za Consumer Experience Manager and SentiMETAL Project Head. "Part of the thrill is keeping an eye on the gate, and you can actually feel anticipation build in the crowd when they hear an engine note approaching the venue... it creates a real buzz!"

The latest meet-up was no different, with around 100 cars showing up representing most eras and genres, from the Franschhoek Motor Museum's 1953 MG TD to a current Roush-tuned Mustang. 

Cars were parked in a V-formation on the Killarney International Raceway's main straight allowing attendees and spectators to stroll up and down, grab a coffee and go out again for another look at the latest arrivals.

The SentiMETAL Gathering is modeled on typical American cars 'n coffee-style events, with the aim of bringing people with a shared passion together for a few hours and to make new petrolheaded friends. Where else will you see a 1944 Willys Jeep parked next to a BMW M4!?

Undoubtedly one of the biggest crowd pleasers was a sinister-looking De Tomaso Pantera, but the most special car in attendance was a slinky, ultra-rare aluminium-bodied Dino 206 GT (the only one in South Africa and one of only 151 made). Another very rare beauty was a stunning 1989 Porsche 911 Speedster (only 2000 built in one year of production).

An interesting and off-beat center of attention was a big blue 1951 Ford F1 Marmon-Herrington 4x4 pick-up. Right next to it was another achingly beautiful piece of American art, a bright red Chevy Corvette C1, with red interior. Also parked next to the Ford F1 Marmon Herrington was a '50s Opel Kapitan, complete with beautiful period picnic set in the boot.

Other highlights from the 'States included an aggressive-looking black Chevrolet Camaro Trans Am, muscular Ford Galaxie 500, Chrysler Valiant wagon, Dieter Losskarn (SentiMETAL Episode 10) and his beloved Checker A11 New York Taxi, a Studebaker Silver Lark, a very neat, all-original Ford Mustang and an '80s Corvette C4.

For Mercedes-Benz fans there were a number of highlights, of which a Mercedes-Benz 190 SL in silver/red combo was but just one. There were also a very neat W111 fintail, a pretty C113 250 CE coupe, 220S "Ponton", increasingly desirable S123 230 TE wagon as well as examples of the R107 and R230 SL generations. 

From the UK we had the pleasure of hosting the aforementioned MG TD, as well as the Franschhoek Motor Museum's 1953 Morgan +4. Josh Spencer (SentiMETAL Episode 1) again brought his beautiful Jaguar E-Type 4.2 Coupe to the meet, while a neat Mark 2 sported curves in all the right places.

And then there was, of course, that stunning red XK150, driven by regular SentiMETAL contributor Graeme Hurst, as well as a more modern XKR and a freshly restored, original Mini Cooper S, among others. And, of course, what would a SentiMETAL meet be without a number of replicas of the iconic Lotus 7. For some attendees, it was their first sighting of a Reliant Scimitar in the wild. 

The Dino 206 GT and De Tomaso Pantera were soon joined in the Italian (in the Pantera's case, half-Italian) corner by a striking Alfa Romeo GTV6 3.0, driven all the way from Paarl, as well as a Lamborghini Murcielago, Alfa Romeo 4C and Ferrari Mondial. 

Japan was represented by some very neat versions of the Nissan 200 SX (finding an original SX these days is extremely difficult), and there was also a bright yellow, recently restored Datsun 160Z, which caused plenty of buzz. A white third-generation Toyota Supra 3.0, Mazda RX-2, a Nissan 350Z and a number of Subarus rounded things off nicely.

As is usually the case at SentiMETAL meets, Porsche and BMW owners came out in numbers. Seeing a first-generation 8 Series is always special, and it was joined on the day by a number of very original E30s, as well as an E36 M3 sedan, popping in Dakar Yellow, and a pristine white E34 M5.

In the Porsche corner the 911 Speedster was joined by not one, but two 356 Cabriolets, a 996 GT3 and Carrera 4S while Michelle Grobler (Porsche Girl Cape Town) showed up in, of course, one of her classic 911s, a 1970 911T.

A couple of locally-designed and built Harper sportscars and a Levy Dart flew the South African flag, while no fewer than three immaculate Goddesses (Citroen DS) brought plenty of French flair to the occasion. From Sweden there were a very pretty P1800 and the bright red 850R that we recently featured in some detail.

Overall, then, lots to look at and take several strolls up and down the Killarney main straight for. Watch this site and our social channels for announcements about upcoming events.

We thank everyone who participated in making the event a success.