This coming Sunday, 9 July, petrolheads can visit the annual Classic Car show at the Nasrec Expo Centre with vehicles from a bygone era to some of the most modern attractions on four wheels on display.
This year’s winter show takes place on Sunday, July 9, with the gates opening to the public at 08:00. The show runs through to 16:00 and it also incorporates the hugely popular German vs Japanese car show, which has become a major event for younger petrolheads who concentrate on wild paint schemes, suspension systems that lower a car almost to the tarmac and outrageous engine modifications.
The Classic Car Show is renowned for attracting some of the best muscle cars, hot rods and custom pick-ups in the region, and this Sunday showgoers can expect to see a big influx of classic American cars from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s.
The period from the rock-and-roll era led by Elvis Presley through to the beginnings of heavy metal music from the likes of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin will always be related to wild rides of various persuasions. Fast cars and rock music have been natural bed fellows, and many collectors of old cars these days associate their cars with rock music through the ages.
Here in South Africa, other American cars that made a big splash in this period were the Plymouth and Dodge models, particularly the Dodge Custom Royal, which featured the first of Chrysler’s famous Hemi V8 engines that are still talked about today.
Next up in the popularity stakes is the humble Volkswagen Beetle, a car that stayed in production here for over a quarter of a century. Just about everyone relates to the common or garden Bug, and on July 9 you can expect to see dozens of Beetles restored to classic status, as well as modified ones.
English classics are at the opposite end of the spectrum compared to the American offerings, especially in terms of size. The prime example of this is probably the Mini, which first made its appearance in 1959 and is tiny by today’s standards.
These days, Ford Motor Company in South Africa has pretty much abandoned the conventional passenger car in favour of Ranger pick-ups and the EcoSport SUV. But in the 1960s, ‘70s and the early part of the 1980s, the Ford Cortina sedans were on everyone’s shopping lists. This year the Cortina celebrates its 60th birthday in South Africa, as the first examples made their appearance here in the last month of 1962.
A large contingent of the German vs Japanese segment will be showcased in Hall 5, where the special Show Ride section of this event is being staged. Here a recent trend has seen a move to very sophisticated Japanese couples, such as Toyota Supras and Nissan 370Zs, as well as Mazda MX5s. Some very trick BMWs will also be entered, as well as the likes of modified Porsche 911s.
Mitsubishi Motors has revived the Pajero name with the launch of the fifth generation Pajero Cross Country. The new model does not simply replace the previous Pajero that disappeared from the market in 2021. Its relationship with the Pajero Sport is equally important, particularly for markets such as South Africa.
Range Rover, long regarded as the original luxury SUV, has introduced its first electric model. The vehicle is built at the Solihull plant in the UK, where Range Rover production has taken place since 1970.
Audi South Africa has introduced the new Q5 range, comprising the third-generation Q5 SUV, second-generation Q5 Sportback, and the performance-focused SQ5 SUV and SQ5 Sportback. The range is built on Audi's Premium Platform Combustion and brings a new generation of petrol and diesel engines to the nameplate.
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