Cars in
   South Africa   



Africa's Premier Classic Car Website with 750 Vintage and Classic Car Pictures, 
Events, History, Links and Weekly updates plus special features on DKW, 
Auto Union, Borgward, Ford, Mercedes Benz, Rolls Royce & Bentley.
Copyright © 1999-2007 Dynaconsult   -   Last update: October 15, 2014
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Quick overview of South Africa



Car of the Week



Stanley Steam Car

Dixieland Band arrives in Style



Our regular Dixieland Band arrives in style at one of 
our recent Crakhandle Club meetings in Cape Town



First Car in Southern Hemisphere

As early as 1896, in what is believed to have been the first car in the Southern
Hemisphere, Mr John Percy Hess of Pretoria made the decision to import
a Benz "Velo" from Benz & Co of Mannheim Germany to South Africa. During
the same year this car was shipped to Port Elizabeth and then transported to
Pretoria. It was the start of a business relationship which lead to Mr Hess
becoming the sole agent for Benz & Co in South Africa.



On Monday, January 4th at 4pm.1897 at Berea Park in Pretoria, in a widely
advertised event, Mr John Percy Hess first drove the car with a Mr A.E. Reno
(his business Partner and co-founder of the Pretoria News), and a Dr W.J. Leyds,
then State Secretary of the Transvaal, as passengers. President Paul Kruger
was also invited to ride on the car, but he preferred to just watch the event.

In honour of President Paul Kruger attendance a "vierkleur" flag was attached
to a pole on the carriage and a gold medal was minted to commemorate this
occasion. A large number of spectators who came to see this spectacle had to
pay an entrance fee of 2 shillings and 6 pennies.

The following week, the Benz was shown at the Wanderers in Johannesburg
and then sold to Mr A.H. Jacobs, a coffee importer. Every customer who
purchased 500g of coffee from his shop in Pritchard Street was allowed to see
his car. Unfortunately, some months later, this car was destroyed in a fire.



First Ford sold outside North America

The first Ford to arrive in South Africa was a 1903 Ford Model A, which was
imported by Mr Arthur Youldon of Johannesburg.

In September 1903 Mr Youldon, an importer, was in New York where he saw
Henry Ford demonstrate his new car. He immediately placed his order with
Henry Ford, who informed him that it would be the first Ford to be sold
outside North America. The Ford Motor Company was founded earlier that
year, on 16 June 1903.



The car only arrived in February 1904 in Port Elizabeth from where it had to
be transported by train to Johannesburg. This car survived to this day and
can be viewed at the Heidelberg Transport Museum near Johannesburg.

The first two Ford agents in South Africa are believed to be Arkell & Douglas
of Port Elizabeth and Georges Chapart of Durban. Mr Chapard, a Frenchman,
travelled throughout Natal and later also the Orange Free State, selling the
popular Ford Model N, the predecessor of the Model T.

Other early Ford dealers followed such as Mr H.G. Holmes of Kimberley who
later moved to Cape Town and Atkinson's Motor Garages of Bloemfontein,
which much later were incorporated in the McCarthy Group of companies.

During July 1923 Mr Holmes and Mr H.F.A. Stockelbach visited the Ford factory
in Canada to investigate the possibility of starting an assembly plant in South Africa.
Due to preferential tax and duty applicable to Commonwealth Countries, it was
advantages to source the kits from the Canadian Ford factory rather than the USA.

This was realised in February 1924, when an old wool packing shed in Port
Elizabeth was used to start the assembly of the Ford Model Ts.



Oldest surviving Cars in South Africa
in perfect working order.

South Africa's Own Successful Cars

Bob van Niekerk, Willie Meissner and Vester de Wit conceived and designed this
car during 1956. Then they formed the GSM company and started manufacturing 
the first two prototypes during 1957. The car proved to be almost unbeatable in 
South Africa as well as various racing circuits in Europe.

The cars were launched as open cars and a removable hardtop only followed later.
The Flamingo was a further development and differed in many respects. 

A good number of these cars have survived in South Africa, as well as in the UK, 
USA and Canada!



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