Classic Cars on Show MyZA

Jody Scheckter won the driver's championship, ... — Image via Wikipedia

The four most significant racing cars in South African World Champion Jody Scheckter’s career and a host of classic road-going and racing saloon cars are proving a big draw card at this year’s Rand Show.

The four Formula one cars that led to Scheckter being crowned as the 1979 Formula One champion take centre stage, surrounded by other racing legends, as well as a glimpse into the future, with the showing of the South African-built Bailey LMP2 which has already secured an entry for next year’s Le Mans 24 Hour endurance race.

The four Jody Scheckter cars are the McLaren M19, which is the first F1 car he raced in 1972, the Tyrrell 007, in which he scored his first GP win in 1974, the Wolf WR1, which Jody drove to victory in what was its first race as a brand new team in 1977, and the 1979 Ferrari T4, which crowned Jody’s career with the World Championship.

Providing an historical context to this priceless collection of F1 cars is a fascinating line-up of historic racing cars from the period in which Jody Scheckter came of age as a driver in South Africa. Rumbling V8 monsters and raucous modified Volvos, Datsuns and Fords were the staple of race fans in the 1960s in South Africa, and cars from the Historic Racing SA series are out in force in Hall 7.

The cars that filled the spectator areas that crammed into tracks like the old Kyalami are to be seen in great numbers too. A line-up of classic VW Beetles from 1952 to 1978 are on display through all their major revisions. Other VW classics are there too, including a Karmann Ghia and a split-window Kombi.

If racing was about horsepower alone, then the dragster boys and girls would beat Formula One hands down. Tarlton Raceway has on display a 2,500 Horspower Funny Car monster, backed up by classic cruisers from the Tarlton collection such as a 1965 Ford Thunderbird, a 1965 Pontiac GTO and a huge Cadillac Eldorado.

For sheer grace and class, it is difficult to beat the Volvo Club’s pristine stand. On display are no less than three Volvo P1800s from the 1960s, and two 1800 ES sports lift-backs. These 1800 Series Volvos cars were considered so beautiful, that one was commissioned for display at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1961.