A magical drive for Rotary members
He has searched for, worked on and loved these gentle giants from an early age and now, a leap away from his prominent career in civil engineering, he has turned his passion into a local commercial enterprise and a definitive collection of Classic Cars in an exhibition farther afield.
At their recent meeting, members and visitors of the Rotary Club of Knights-Pendragon were treated to an expertly-guided drive through a world of fast, elegant and infinitely stylish Classic Cars.
The group is based in Bedfordview and serves all local communities.
Speaker, Mr Brian Bruce, is an authority on these highly desirable machines.
He has searched for, worked on and loved these gentle giants from an early age and now, a leap away from his prominent career in civil engineering, he has turned his passion into a local commercial enterprise and a definitive collection of Classic Cars in an exhibition farther afield.
Mr Bruce pointed out that the motor car was a major part of engineering and social development in the 20th Century.
It was a tangible expression of personal freedom and even more so then, it defined who you were.
Cars then were about mobility, with style, speed and power.
The motor car of today and the future, is and will be, mechanically superior, computer developed and engineered to be consumable.
Safety and efficiency are ensured by regulation and practicality, their design defined by media fashion and production line demands.
Even though car ownership has increased ten-fold since 1960, fewer than 15 percent of our present multi-billion world population own a car.
The first car ever exported out of America came to Johannesburg.
The racing of cars became increasingly competitive, the first car race, in 1887, was from Paris to Versailles and was won by the only car that finished.
The first 24 hour Le Mans race, in 1923, was seen as the supreme test of speed and endurance.
Names came in and out of prominence, including Bentley, Alfa Romao, Jaguar and Ferrari.
Classic Cars bearing many of those names have a financial value based on the expensive exercise of sentiment, the amount paid for that forgotten and dilapidated find and the cost of rehabilitating could end up being three times the price it might attract today.
The Rotary Club of Knights-Pendragon have regular, monthly speaker evenings.
For more information, contact Andy Stevenson on 082 389 0256.
