From 27-28 February the Franschhoek Motor Museum together with some of South Africa’s foremost classic car collectors dusted off their timeless beauties for the Frankschhoek Motor Museum’s inaugural Time Trial and Concours 2010.
There were a number of almost priceless cars on the track, including a 1957 Aston Martin DBR 2/1 worth an estimated R72 million.
It was an event that re-captured the glamour, speed and elegance of forgotten decades, all set against the beautiful backdrop of L’Ormarins wine farm. The Time Trial, an age-old friendly tradition, ran along a testing 3 km course and played host to a diverse array of vehicles including such motoring greats as Bugatti, Maserati, Jaguar, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Shelby,
Chevrolet and many more.
However, the best times were achieved by Toby Venter in a 2010 Porsche 911 Turbo (1:57.46), Peter Lindenberg in a the 1970 Basil Green Ford Capri Perana in second place (1:58.28) while Ross Lazarus in a Ford GT40 replica (1:59.64) came third. Note the 40-year age difference between the Porsche and the Ford Capri! In 44th and second-last place was a 1919 Ford Model T Speedster that took 4 min and 25 seconds to complete the course. Not bad for a 90-year-old.
The Concours d’ Elegance is a ‘competition of elegance’, that has been practised since the 17th-century when French aristocracy paraded their horse-drawn carriages through the parks of Paris and were judged on the appearance of the vehicle they owned. This part of the event was won by Dawie Theron’s 1970 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona.
The weekend also saw special demonstrations by motoring legends such as Sarel van der Merwe, Ian Scheckter and Serge Damseaux. Other drivers included well-know businessman Johann Rupert, and rugby ace Schalk Burger. Burger raced a BMW 135i.
For more information and images of the event please visit the website www.fmm.co.za