For anybody who loves cars, this weekend's Rand Show promises a treat, with a huge display of more than 150 muscle cars, racing cars, off-road racing machines, classics, and dragsters at the Festival of Motoring in Hall 5.
From Thursday 28 March to Monday 1 April, visitors will be able to check out a widely varied exhibit of cars and motorcycles dating from the 1930s to the latest muscle cars from the US.
This year, the Festival of Motoring will also feature a motoring stage-show, where motoring media personalities, Stuart Johnston and Hendrik Verwoerd, will interview well-known motoring personalities.
Champion off-road racer Evan Hutchinson has put together an exhibition of two off-road four-wheeled racers and nearly two dozen classic off-road racing motorcycles.
TRIBUTE TO AN ICON
Mercedes-Benz enthusiast Johan Ackermann, will present his tribute to the car that won the Le Mans 24-Hour endurance race, first time out, on the marque's return to motorsport after having withdrawn from racing in 1955 after Pierre Levegh's catastrophic accident.
The car was the Sauber C9 and the drivers were Jochen Mass, Stanley Dickens and Manuel Reuter - and Mercedes went on to win the 1989 World Sports Car Championship as well.
Using pictures, scale models and dimensions gleaned from various sources, Ackermann has recreated a C9 for the road. He stresses that it is not intended as a replica or a copy, with any production plans envisaged. It is merely his tribute to what he terms “an icon in motor racing history”.
The car was built in his workshop in Kempton Park, with the body formed using cardboard templates and fibreglass. It took him 14 months to complete, which a remarkable achievement in itself, considering he designed the chassis himself and fabricated it out of tubular steel.
Inside the cabin, Ackermann made much use of carbon fibre, a material that was newly in use back in 1989.
The Ackermann car uses all Mercedes-Benz mechanicals, a fact that gives Johan great pleasure when he discusses his car. It runs a 3.2-litre Mercedes V6 engine with dual aftermarket turbochargers, whereas the factory-built C9 ran a twin-turbo V8 - which gave it a recorded top speed at Le Mans of just on 400km/h!
Other Mercedes hardware in Ackermann’s C9 includes a W124 five-speed manual gearbox, and front brakes from the S600 V12 sedan. The whole car weighs 1100 kg, and with nearly 300kW on tap it is very fast indeed.
“I haven't had the courage to drive it flat out yet,” he admits.
The car also has some intriguing modern technology, such as a head up display for speed, revs, temperature and volts, wireless digital tyre temperature and pressure display on all for wheels, a rearview camera and parking sensors
WORKS IN PROGRESS
Both the Johannesburg VW and Beetle Club and EmGEE Garage will be showing restoration projects involving cars ranging from “barn finds” to perfectly prepared body shells ready for re-assembly. The Beetle Club will also be presenting their classic Beetles, including the famous Eddy Rust collection, which numbers some very early pre-1954 Split Window examples.
A number of dragsters will be on display, including Mick van Rensburg's jet car, along with other dragsters.
There will be plenty of muscle-cars on display, as well as classic Volvos, Triumphs and MGs, and modern supercars including Lamborghinis, while a host Ford Mustangs, Chevrolet Camaros, Corvettes and custom pick-ups will add a strong “Fast and Furious” flavour to the hall.
UNUSUAL AMERICAN
Among the muscle-cars will be one designed to be driven very, very slowly - an exquisitely restored 1939 Packard hearse, believed to have been imported new to South Africa and used by the Pretoria-based Rogers funeral company in its “previous life”. It is also believed to have appeared in the film Cry the Beloved Country, based on the novel by Alan Paton and starring Richard Harris and James Earl Jones.
And, unusually for a car of this vintage, it is still very much a working car, commissioned for funerals by its present owners, Collinge & Company of Randburg.
“We wanted a vehicle that would set us apart from other funeral directors.”
Mike Collinge explained: “We considered horse drawn hearses, as they use in the US in some parts, but horses need food and care, so we ruled that out. Then we discovered this partly-restored Packard that some Formula Ford racer was building to use to tow his race car.
“We put it back to original as far as the body was concerned but for the mechanicals, we realised that we needed something modern, as the car was not going to be a show-piece but a working hearse.
“So we opted for a Chevy 350 V8 engine, and Jaguar suspension front and rear, your classic hot rodder solution.”
The beauty of this “fix” was that it gives the old Packard modern pulling power as well as modern brakes, essential in a hearse used for days when nothing is allowed to go wrong.
The woodwork of the coffin area is a superb example of carpentry, and the bodywork is completely original, right down to the Packard wheels and hubcaps.
PETROL VERSUS PEDALS
Extreme biking stunt show, Man vs Machine is a demonstration of guts and skill that will see five-times national bicycle trials champion Dylan Victor and multiple national champion and motorcycle trials legend, Brian Capper, go head to head in a pedal-power versus petrol-power smackdown.
There will be two shows daily - at 11:30am and 2:30pm - where they'll be ramping over three metre-high obstacles on one wheel, jumping over cars as well as brave volunteers from the audience, climbing up ladders, and doing the kind of stunts no ordinary person would dare attempt on two wheels.
Finally, visitors can try out the incredibly realistic driving simulators, free of charge, and see a giant Scalextric racing display, with scale cars for sale.
SHOW HOURS
The 2013 Rand Show will be open daily from 9am to 7pm, from Thursday 28 March to Monday 1 April, at the Johannesburg Expo Centre, Rand Show Road, Nasrec.
Entry costs R100 for adults, R50 for pensioners and scholars under 17, R20 for under-12's and free for kids under six.
Tickets are available at the gate or through Computicket.