The Classic Car Show on Sunday, December 4, at Nasrec, south of Jo’burg, will showcase an array of American muscle cars, European classics, street rods and custom trucks with a huge Hog-presence in the form of Harley Davidsons. Organiser Paulo Calisto is laying on a prawn festival to tantalise the palates of all visitors
Brian Joss – The Harley Davidson presence is expected to be huge, as the word has gone out among all the Harley Owners Group chapters in Gauteng to make the show an integral stop-over on their traditional Sunday Run. A special deal has been arranged regarding admission to usher the giant groups of “hogs” expected into Nasrec.
As for the core of the event, The Classic Car Show is expecting a huge turnout of American Muscle Cars in particular to rumble into Nasrec.
Muscle cars are defined mainly by their huge American V8 engines and their large bodywork created in Detroit between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s. However, the definition of American muscle is vague enough to include late 1950s fine-and-flash American cars too, as well as the classic pony cars such as the Ford Mustang from 1965, the Chevrolet Camaro from 1967, the Pontiac Firebird from a similar period, and the Chrysler-built Dodge Charger, Plymouth Barracuda, Dodge Challenger and a host of other marques and models.
One of the biggest movements as an add-on to the Muscle scene is the proliferation of super-customised and hot-rodded pick-up trucks in South Africa. This trend sees Chevy pick-ups from the late 1940s through to the mid-1980s receiving the custom treatment, and this rule of thumb also applies to the Ford F150 and Dodge D-Series pick-ups from this era. An attraction of a hot pick-up project is that the bodies are comparatively simple to restore and refurbish, as these “trucks” had little in the way of interior trim when they were built, so there is much less to refurbish.
Classic VW Beetles, Kombis and Karmann Ghias will again be a huge trend at The Classic Car Show, and once again these vehicles have become extremely sought-after, thanks to their exposure on TV in South Africa and elsewhere. A prize split-window Kombi from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s is worth a small fortune today, both in South Africa and overseas.
And there will be the usual high-octane mix of British sports cars and sedans and European cars ranging from the earliest days of motoring to the early 1980s.
There will be a full range of the usual stores and stalls, live rock music, plenty to eat and drink. Owners of classic cars will be admitted free at the gate, with no charge to the driver and one passenger. Extra passengers will pay the normal entry fees.
Ticket prices are R60 for adults through Ticketpro, or R80 at the gate. Tickets for Children under 12 are R20, and secure parking costs R20.
The gates open at 8 am. The show ends at 5 pm. Visit www.classiccars.co.za , email: events@classiccars.co.za or call 082 497 7218 or 082 497 7218 for more information.
