BUICK SERIES 50 SUPER HONDA CBX MICROCARS R50.50 incl VAT August 2018 MIURA P400 LAMBORGHINI’S BULLISH MOVE NOT FOR LIGHTWEIGHTS LAND-ROVER TREK 10-YEAR ALFA GTA REPLICA BUILD CAPE TOWN TO LONDON SIX DECADES AGO CHEVROLET BUSINESS COUPÉ | NER-A-CAR | CARS OF THE KRUGER CONTENTS — CARS BIKES PEOPLE AFRICA — AUGUST 2018 LATE NIGHTS FOR THE LONG RUN A LOYAL STAR 03 Editor’s point of view 72 Rudolf Uhlenhaut CLASSIC CALENDAR THE FAST CLIMBER 06 Upcoming events 76 Honda CBX NEWS & EVENTS POCKET POWER 12 All the latest from the classic scene 82 Bubble cars and microcars – Part 1 THE HURST SHIFTER THE ABC OF LUBRICATION 20 A gliding light 90 Tech talk THE YOUNGTIMER CONSERVING WILDLIFE 22 Defending the cult classics 92 2018 Fiat Panda TwinAir 4x4 Cross LETTERS SUCKERS FOR PUNISHMENT 24 Have your say 93 CCA project cars CARBS & COFFEE GEARBOX 28 Cars of the Kruger Park 96 Classified adverts KABOOM! KB KEEPS CLIMBING 32 40 years of the Isuzu bakkie NEARLY A CAR 46 36 The Ner-A-Car motorcycle A BULLISH MOVE 40 Lamborghini Miura SAFE MY MATE! 46 Buick Series 50 Super NOT FOR LIGHTWEIGHTS 50 Alfa Romeo GTA homage MASTERFUL BUSINESS 56 56 Chevrolet Business Coupé resto-mod LANDY OF HOPE & GLORY 62 Cape Town to London 60 years ago HISTORIC RACING – THE FUTURE 68 2018 Le Mans Classic www.classiccarafrica.com | August 2018 | 1 From specialist metal fabrication, welding, cutting, panel restoration and spraypainting, right through to glass restoration, auto trimming, electrical work and mechanical rebuilds. Give FUEL a call today to see if we can help you with turning your ideas into reality Exotic Car Servicing & Repairs Mechanical & Cosmetic Restoration Custom One-Off Projects. Vehicle Interior Restoration EDITOR’S POINT OF VIEW www.classiccarafrica.com Publisher Zig Zag Publishing Tracy Cilliers [email protected] Editor Stuart Grant [email protected] Deputy Editor Graeme Hurst [email protected] Art Director Ronel van Heerden www.nineninetynine.co.za Contributors Mike Monk, Gavin Foster, Jake Venter, Robert Peché, Etienne Fouche, Mike Schmucker, Denis Klopper, Roger Houghton, John Rabe, Stewart Erdis. LATE NIGHTS Subscriptions & Editorial [email protected] FOR THE LONG RUN Tel: 082 330 3446 eading up to our print deadline, material to fill 100 pages? Would we sell as Fax: 086 568 0193 the working days get long and many magazines with the shelf time at retail Advertising run late into the night. This month outlets halved? Would we ever be able [email protected] is no different, and as I write this to sleep? the sun has long since set and the Hindsight is a wonderful thing though, and www.classiccarafrica.com Lheater is going full blast to fend off one of the looking back I should have slept peacefully coldest nights on the Highveld this winter. that night. Thanks to a host of contributors Postnet suite 27 Private Bag X20 Coffee is made on the hour, every hour. It was coming on board and input from readers, the Cresta while watching the kettle boil (I understand content generation has flourished. We could 2194 why the ‘watched kettle never boils’ saying honestly double the number of pages and was coined) that it dawned on me that just not run out of story ideas. Magazine sales over two years ago I stood in the exact have done the opposite of what I feared and same position. grown substantially. It seems that the readers It was a bitterly cold night and the kettle were desperate for more information more seemed to take even longer than normal to frequently and the retailers were dead keen reach boiling point but there was one thing to stock a monthly product, not to mention different – instead of blankly watching the distributors knocking on doors and getting kitchen appliance, my brain was racing our little rag into more shops each issue. at a million miles per hour with magazine We thank you all and hope you enjoy the concerns. We’d made the decision to ramp up Lamborghini Miura S, Land-Rover trek from magazine production from an every-second- Cape Town to London 60 years ago, Chevrolet month publication to a monthly offering just resto-mod, Honda CBX, Buick Super, Rudi weeks before. The deadline for the June issue Uhlenhaut, Ner-A-Car and bubble car features came and went as per normal, and the only that sit alongside all the latest classic news The publishers make every effort to ensure this magazine’s contents are correct. All material real difference was that the date on the cover and events. published in Classic Car Africa is copyright and read ‘June’ instead of ‘June/July’. For the first Once again thanks to all the contributors, unauthorised reproduction is forbidden. The opinion of contributors, as published, are not true monthly issue the move suddenly cut our readers and advertisers that make it all necessarily the opinions held by the publishers or production time from a comfortable six weeks happen and keep us on the straight, narrow editors of Classic Car Africa. The publishers and editors make no representations, nor do they give to just three. My heart raced as the enormity and twisting road. any warranties, guarantees or assurances, for any goods or services advertised herein. of the task sank in that night. How would we manage to generate enough Stuart www.classiccarafrica.com | August 2018 | 3 FRANSCHHOEK MOTOR MUSEUM NEWS FATHER’S DAY SUCCESS This year’s Father’s Day celebration at FMM was another rip-roaring success. Thankfully, the weather stayed dry all day (it started to drizzle with just 10 minutes to go), so the day’s proceedings went according to plan. For both morning and afternoon sessions the gates had to be opened 30 minutes early because of the queue, and in all 631 people attended the event, with fathers being admitted free. Cars on display in Halls B, C and D were shown with bonnets up, while outside a string of 45 cars took it in turns for five-minute demonstration runs around the quadrant in each session. This included a surprise Back to the Future appearance of ‘Dr Emmett Brown’ in a DeLorean. A handful of motorcycles also joined in the parades. The museum’s deli, together with the various food and beverage stands set up in Hall A, kept all the dads and their families suitably nourished and the wine sales table was also full of activity. Many visitors bought tickets for a ride around the L’Ormarins grounds aboard the ex-Heidelberg Commer-based Merryweather fire engine, complete with its wailing ‘dee-dah’ siren. Also busy all day was the slot car circuit, which proved to be a very popular distraction for youngsters. The day’s action was thoroughly enjoyed by all, borne out by the many compliments received directly by FMM and comments posted on the various social network sites. A NEW OLD ROLLS-ROYCE JOINS THE COLLECTION FMM has just acquired a remarkable motor car, a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. The chassis, number 14AC, was manufactured in 1915 and immediately commissioned by the British Admiralty for war duty. The car was sold back to R-R in 1918 and refurbished by Vickers before becoming the property of famous South African military commander Sir Pierre van Ryneveld, who kept the car until his death in 1972. Johan, Koos and Koos’s son Johan van der Wat collectively bought the car from the estate. The original body had been replaced but the Van der Wats had the car restored to a period London-Edinburgh Sports Tourer design. Since then the car has been regularly driven, shown and rallied by the Van der Wat family, and now it has become part of the FMM collection. HERE’S A HUAYRA Bit of a mouthful – the H is silent – and performed demo drives around the quadrant. in early July FMM was proud to host a Weighing just 1 280kg, the futuristic- brief visit of Pagani’s latest hypercar, the looking Huayra is powered by a Mercedes- Huayra, which was on a promotional tour AMG 6-litre twin-turbo V12 pumping out in the hands of Pagani’s Area Manager 539kW and 1000Nm of torque. A single- for the Middle East and Africa, Mansour clutch seven-speed sequential transmission Alyasin. The car is the prototype coupé is used and the car sprints from 0-100km/h and appeared in the Transformers 4 movie. in 2.8 seconds and has a top speed of Accompanying Mansour were Pagani South 383km/h. The car has been fitted with Africa’s General Manager Marek Letowt and the track-oriented Tempesta upgrade that photographer John Whittle. The car was put includes a revised front air dam, special alloy on display and provided a thrilling surprise wheels, stiffer suspension incorporating for the many unsuspecting visitors on the custom Ohlins dampers, a freer-flowing day. Heightening the occasion, later in the titanium exhaust and a different rear diffuser. day the Pagani was joined by two of FMM’s The Huayra kept everyone enthralled prized hypercars, the McLaren F1 and throughout the day – transforming a visit Ferrari Enzo, and in the afternoon the three into a unique event. WHERE, WHAT TIMES AND HOW MUCH The Franschhoek Motor Museum is situated on the L’Ormarins Estate along the R45 in the Franschhoek Valley in the Western Cape. Visiting is currently by appointment only – phone (021) 874 9002 to make a reservation. Opening hours are Monday to Friday 10h00 to 17h00 (last admittance 16h00), Saturday and Sunday 10h00 to 16h00 (last admittance 15h00).