MOTORING NEWS - The seventh Knysna Motor Show, sponsored by Sanlam Private Wealth, will host some of the most collectable cars on the African continent on Sunday 29 April at the Knysna High School sports grounds on Waterfront Drive, Knysna.
Cars ranging from a 1908 Ford Model S to modern supercars by Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini will grace this event. American 1950s "fins 'n flash land yachts", adorable micro cars and classic motorcycles will vie for attention amongst classic racing cars and huge motorised chariots from the vintage and veteran era.
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The Knysna Motor Show is a one-day only event, held at the Knysna High School sports grounds, with elegant food and drink stalls providing refreshments in keeping with the glamour of this top-quality classic car event. Nevertheless, the show is family orientated, with a relaxed atmosphere. There is a beer garden and a food court to cater to all culinary tastes.
PERFECT VETERANS
Perfectly preserved veterans from the 1920s and 1930s will include a 1936 Cord Westchester 810 (the so-called coffin-nosed Cord), a 1928 Bentley 3-litre, a selection of Model T Fords, a 1923 Rolls-Royce 20 HP Doctor's Coupé and, from an even earlier era a 1913 Cadillac Phaeton, to stand alongside the Ford Model S, which is 110 years old this year.
Two fantastic open-topped cars from this pre-war era will include a 1919 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Tourer and a 1932 Alvis Steed Tourer.
Further exciting news is that a 1938 BMW 328 sports car, famous for being one of the best sports-racers in Europe built just before WW II, has had a mechanical restoration completed in time for the car to make this year's Knysna Motor Show.
The original and ultra-scarce Mazda Cosmo with rotary engine dating from the late 1960s.
MORGAN CELEBRATION
There will also be special anniversary celebrations of famous marques. Chief among these will be the Morgan sports car company, which is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its most successful car, the V8-engined Morgan Plus 8.
To highlight Morgan's long heritage, there will also be a Morgan Three Wheeler on display that is 100 years old. As modern-day relics of classic British craftsmanship, Morgans are famous for still being hand-built sports cars in this modern era of recyclable machinery. The waiting list for Morgan cars still runs to years, as it has done for decades!
ROTARY REVOLUTION
From the other side of the globe, a special tribute will be paid to the Japanese Mazda rotary engine, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Coordinated by arch Mazda rotary enthusiast from Cape Town, Peanuts Fouché, this display will include a super-rare and exotically beautiful Mazda Cosmo rotary-engine sports car, the only one in Africa.
Other rare models include an unrestored R100 Coupé, a car that in race-prepped form gave South African World F1 Champion Jody Scheckter his first taste of international competition in 1970. The range will also include the famous RX7 and RX8 models.
MOSTERT COLLECTION
The Kobus Mostert collection of ultra-rare American classics from the 1950s to the 1980s will give Knysna Motor Show visitors a taste of the many special variants of American cars that were built in the classic post-war era of opulence, starting in the days when rock 'n' roll was king.
A 1958 Imperial Crown Southampton Coupé
Kobus is a long-time collector of very limited edition Americana and he is organising a display of 18 cars. These will include a beautiful and very rare 1957 Continental Mk III Coupé, a 1958 Pontiac Bonneville, a 1958 Imperial Crown Southampton Coupé, a 1958 Oldsmobile 98 Coupé (the only one in Africa), a 1957 Buick Century Coupé and a 1963 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday Coupé with a rare Sky Rocket high-compression engine. An immaculately restored 1960 Cadillac Eldorado Coupé, owned by Butch May, will be an iconic eye catcher included in this collection for the day.
The show is just one week before the Jaguar Simola Hillclimb in Knysna, making it ideal to combine these two top quality events into an unbelievable petrolhead family getaway.
The show runs from 09:00 to 16:00 on Sunday 29 April. Admission prices are: adults R50, children 12-18 R10 and children under 12 free.
For more information, contact Peter Pretorius on 082 321 4724 / peterp@afrihost.co.za There is also more information on the Garden Route Motor Club's website at www.grmc.co.za or Facebook: Knysna Motor Show.
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