My very first visit to the Vryheid Vintage Car Show

"What really caught my eye was the fact that many of the old Model T Fords had wooden - yes, wooden - rims. Now there's something you definitely shouldn't drive on today's roads. I quietly chuckled to myself as I imagined the parade going down either President or Mark Streets."

June 13, 2019

Neil Doherty-Bigara 3 minutes read

Neil Doherty-Bigara, who will stand in for Sine Thwala at the Vryheid Herald until she returns from the United States of America, chats to André Nel about his car collection.

I remember as a child, there was a Reggie’s toy shop in the Pick n’ Pay centre, where our grocery shopping would be done on a monthly basis.

Once our shopping was done, if I had behaved, we would go to the toy shop and my dad would buy me a ‘dinky’ car. There were various brands to choose from, namely Matchbox, Corgi, Majorette, Yatming and Buddy L. Back then, the price of a Hot Wheels was R1.99! I eventually had a collection of more than 150 vehicles, ranging from racing cars to police cars, all in pristine condition.

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Even TV programmes such as Knight Rider and The A-Team were regarded as cool due to the automobile factor.
Christmas and birthday shopping for anyone who knew me, was easy – just get him a toy car.
Since then, nothing has changed regarding my love for automobilia, so when I was asked to describe my experience of the Vryheid Vintage Car Show, I naturally jumped at the opportunity.

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On arrival, there was so much to take in and I was thrown back into the childhood memory of the Reggie’s shop.
The old Fords were all gathered in the front row, looking majestic, almost boastful, proudly displaying their ability to stand the test of time. I wondered what today’s cars would look like a hundred years from now.
At 2pm, all the Model Ts and Model As formed a line, and subsequently paraded in front of a very impressed crowd, with veteran car enthusiast, Harry Heyns describing the details of each vehicle as it stopped next to where he was standing.

What really caught my eye was the fact that many of the old Model T Fords had wooden – yes, wooden – rims.
Now there’s something you definitely shouldn’t drive on today’s roads. I quietly chuckled to myself as I imagined the parade going down either President or Mark Streets.

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The way in which the exhibited vehicles were displayed was very well thought out.

All similar vehicles were together, for instance Volvos were together, Alfas were together etc. I enjoyed the fact that there were even some unfinished projects on display. The amount of time, energy and money that goes into the restoration of an old vehicle must be incredible. It was great to see so many vehicles on display, and that even in today’s economic climate, people still hold tightly onto their dreams and passion.

You could see the nostalgic looks on the faces of the men and women admiring the beautifully restored machinery.
You could almost join their trips back in time to when they ‘had one like that’ or ‘learned to drive in one of those’.

Music was provided by legendary South African artists. Billy Forest and Dennis East were among the stars who were responsible for the foot tapping, hand clapping, and in some cases, singing along.

There was a ‘train’ made up of a ride-on lawnmower as the locomotive and ‘coaches’, fabricated from 210-litre drums, for the kids to ride on.

The stationary engines were another fascinating attraction, many of them being over a century old.
One in particular was still running after it had been switched off around five minutes earlier, due to the momentum caused by the sheer weight of the flywheel. Amazing feats of engineering, despite their age.

The weather was perfect, more than enough food was on sale and there was definitely something to cater for everyone.