Pristine classic cars from all corners of the country will be streaming into George in the second weekend of February in 2024 for the 27th rendition of the George Old Car Show. Upwards of 1 000 classic cars are expected for this highly-rated motorised festival.
The two-day event on February 10 and 11, 2024 has so far drawn entries from as far afield as Thabazimbi in Limpopo Province, Upington in the Northern Cape, Gauteng, the Free State, and even two entries from Windhoek in Namibia!
And the line-up of cars will showcase a sweep of time in South African Motoring history that dates back to more than 100 years ago, to modern cars that have already achieved “instant classic” status. If you have a particular marque favourite, chances are you will have a couple of examples to whet your appetite. From Alfa Romeos to Zephyrs, they will all be there, judging by the early entries already received for the George Old Car Show 2024.
Owners of pre-1985 classic cars should note that only cars pre-entered for the show will be allowed into the show area for display purposes. To enter a classic car for the event, use the following link: https://scocc.co.za/register/index-new.php.
Once again the George Old Car Show will be held at the sprawling Eden Technical High School venue in Union Street, George. The organisers are encouraging spectators to pre-book discounted tickets for the show using iTickets. Log on to the iTickets website using this link: https://itickets.co.za/events/475607
Pre-booking for the event will enable much easier access to the grounds. To further ease congestion, this year the organisers are establishing extra Sales points to the show at the high school venue.
The main show day for 2024 will be on Saturday, February 10, while the Sunday has been designated a “Family Day” with entertainment provided by the International Oompah Band to add a German feel to the proceedings, as this year’s show has been given a special German theme. Traditionally there are no shortages of German-built machinery at the George Old Car Show, and once again there have been strong entries featuring Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, DKW and Borgward machinery.
Club support for 2024 has been massive
Support from Car Clubs has also been impressive. There are notable entries from the likes of the MG Car Club, the Kombi Owners Club in the Western Cape, the Rover Motorcycle Club in Hogsback in the Eastern Cape, as well as the Mercedes-Benz Club of South Africa, and a massive entry from the Concept Crew Car Club from the Despatch area in the Eastern Cape. A contingent of 10 cars from the Morris Minor Owners Club will be travelling to the show from the Cape Town area.
The organising club, the Southern Cape Old Car Club, will naturally be fielding an impressive entry of members’ cars, and club participation is vital to this event, as this is the only car show in South Africa where clubs take centre-stage and conduct drive-by demonstrations of their cars throughout the event.
Car Club Drive-Bys
“The drive-by component of the George Old Car Show is an on-going highlight of the event and makes our show stand out as something completely different,” says Waldo Scribante, Chairman of the Southern Cape Old Car Club. “It enables show goers to find a comfortable seat and experience all the cars as they drive by in groups on the main show field. And our Public Address team interacts with all the car owners during the drive-by sequences to provide a running commentary of each and every car, as well.”
It is expected that up to 1 000 cars will feed into the grounds of the Eden Technical High School in Union Street, George, on February 10 – 11, with the show open to spectators from 8 am each day. Cars, trucks, motorcycles and tractors will be on show, as well as stationary industrial engines, and the oldest cars on the show will be well over 100 years old. These old cars, in the Veteran and Vintage category, will be arriving in George on Friday afternoon, after a traditional pre-show tour that this year starts from Calitzdorp on Friday morning.
An interesting entry this year is from Wessie van der Westhuizen from Thabazimbi in the Limpopo Province. In 2019 he saw a genuine 1904 De Dion-Bouton at the George Old Car Show, owned by Tom van der Vyver. Working only from photographs, Wessie has since created a replica of the De Dion, and he will be showing this car in George this year.
50 cc Motorcycles recall a bygone era
At the other end of the motorized spectrum, interesting entries from the Eastern Cape recall an era that was pivotal to many of today’s older petrol-heads. Growing up in the 1960s and ‘70s, many enthusiasts enjoyed their first motorised experiences aboard 50 cc motorcycles, or buzz-bikes, as they were called then. Driver’s licenses for 50 cc bikes were available to 16-year olds, and high school parking grounds were awash with these rip-roaring machines.
This year in George, a number of 50 cc machines will be shown representing the crème-de-la-crème of the buzz bike brigade. From Gqeberha comes a collection of Zundapp and Kreidler 50 cc bikes that were the toast of the town in the early 1970s. And in the early 1960s, the hot tickets were the Italian bikes from Garelli and Maserati (a sister company to the famous sports car maker). These mini-Italian stallions will be travelling to George from Port Alfred.
A number of classic motorcycles have also been entered, numbering the likes of Ariel, Douglas, Norton, Velocette and Francis-Barnett. And topping off the two wheeled brigade will be a strong entry of Vespas from the George area!
Mercedes-Benz will have a massive representation at George Old Car Show 2024, headlined by no less than eight original 300SL machines, the all-time classics sports cars built between 1954 and 1963. The Mercedes-Benz Car Club stand will have iconic examples of these famous German machines harking back to 1913, whilst including examples of modern Mercs, such as the SLS Gullwing and AMG GT supercars.
BMW, too, will be well represented, by some unusual examples of the Bavarian marque, including a Bauer Cabriolet version of the 323 model from the 1980s, a highly desirable 325iS “Shadowline” from the 1990s and more modern examples of M3 and M5 performance sedans.
British sports cars ruled the roost in the early 1950s through to the early 1970s, and there will be a massive turn-out of MGs, ranging back to the late 1940s TC examples to the more modern MGs from a decade or so ago. At least one example of the famous MGA Twin Cam model will be on display, as well as many variants of the famous MGB, which sold here in great numbers in the 1960s and 1970s. Other classic British makes, such as Austin Healey, Triumph and Morgan will also be on show.
American makes from the likes of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler will also be represented through many eras, including those of the Fabulous Fins decade from the 1950s.
