If ever a title of “Royalty” were to be applied to a motorcar, that sobriquet would have to rest with Rolls-Royce.
Since the first model, a Silver Ghost, was produced in 1907, the magnificent British machine was proclaimed as “the best car in the world“ and by and large Rolls-Royce products over the past century could stake a legitimate claim to that title.
At the 28th George Old Car Show on February 8, 2025, Rolls-Royce and the equally exalted upper-crust British marque, Bentley, will be show-cased as the headline act in a special commemoration for British cars. A demarcated area on Field D at the show venue will comprise the large number of treasured classic Rolls-Royce and Bentley models owned by collectors hailing from many parts of the country.
Rolls-Royce has had a presence in South Africa going way back to 1910, when the first Silver Ghost model was imported here as the official car for the Governor-General of South Africa, Lord Herbert Gladstone. Since then, many Rolls-Royces were imported privately, until after World War Two when the Grosvenor Group were appointed as official Rolls and Bentley agents for South Africa.
If Rolls-Royce is considered the monarch, then Bentley can be perceived as the extended, swashbuckling, adventurous branch of “Britain’s Royal Motoring Family.” Bentley was established in 1921 and gained world-wide sporting acclaim for victories in the Le Mans 24-Hour race in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930. Drivenlargely by upper-class British playboys, the company founded by W.O Bentley was acquired in a take-over by Rolls-Royce in the 1930s, and for decades afterwards, Bentleys were seen as the sporting variants of the more staid Rolls-Royce models.
“While Rolls-Royce and Bentley are jewels in the British crown, we will be celebrating all British marques in our 2025 show on February 8,” says Waldo Scribante, chairman of the organising club, the Southern Cape Old Car Club. “A large number of our members own British classics, and we felt the time was ripe to give these cars their turn under the spotlight. In addition to our members’ cars, there are strong groups of British car enthusiast all along our coast line, and these will deservedly be a huge feature of the coming year’s show.”
Recently SCOCC member Pierre Malherbe completed a 1 200 km tour in his immaculate 1936Bentley 4¼ Litrefour door saloon, with tasty Park Ward coachwork. “The car performed perfectly for the duration of the Erfenis Tour to Tulbagh and back, cruising at 80 to 90 km/h,” said Pierre. In 2024 his yellow and burgundy Bentley was one of the star attractions on the main field near the stage, and this year he is looking forward to sharing lawn-space with some of the exotic Bentleys and Rolls-Royces on the D field at the Eden Technical College grounds in George.
In 2025 it will be a one-day show
The other big news for the 2025 event on Saturday, February 8 is that it will be a one-day show. In previous renditions the George Old Car Show has been a two-day event, held over Saturday and Sunday, but over the years attendance on the Sunday has dwindled, in terms of both spectators and especially car exhibitors.
“The reason for the fall-off of cars on the Sunday has been that over the years many of our exhibitors have driven long distances to attend the show,” explained Scribante. “These enthusiasts more often than not had to retrieve their cars early on Sunday morning and head home for a long return journey. Consequently, on the Sunday, big gaps were left on the fields, so that by mid-day on the Sunday only a small portion of classics remained.
“More and more, we felt this was not fair for spectators who had planned to attend the show only on the Sunday, as they were effectively seeing only half a show, or less. So for 2025, with something of a heavy-heart, we are running theGeorge Old Car Show as a one-day event. To compensate for this, we are running the Saturday show an hour longer than before. So the show times for spectators will be from 9am to 6pm.
©Copyright MOTORING WORLD INTERNATIONAL. All rights reserved. Materials, photographs, illustrations and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior written permission from Motoring World International
Contact: [email protected]
