Publications
Partners
Most people know about English Premier League soccer team Liverpool and their ‘Kop End’, arguably the best-known football stand in the world that’s steeped in history that claims to go back to the Anglo-Boer War well over a century ago.
Well, classic-car fans on Wheels24 may well be interested to know about an event called the Kop Hill Revival – this will be the sixth – that happened in December 2014 in England.
Kop Hill started out as a hill-climb event for cars and motorcycles 105 years ago and, as far I can ascertain, also pays tribute to the heroes found on both sides of the Anglo-Boer War.
HOPKIRK THE ENTERTAINER
Today the Kop Hill Revival is still run by unpaid volunteers, with the help of the British Marshals’ Club, and all proceeds go to a County Community Foundation. Apparently it’s an excellent weekend’s entertainment with more than 400 cars and bikes showing up for the event (2015’s date is September 19/20).
Irish rally driver Paddy Hopkirk entertained the 16 000-strong crowd with his 1964 Monte-Carlo Rally-winning Mini Cooper while the 1924 GP Sunbeam that established the Kop Hill record (a record that, amazingly, still stands) also took part in the proceedings, along with a 1914 Rolls-Royce Alpine Eagle.
Racing Aston Martins, Bugattis, ERA’s, Jaguars and Bristols were also much in attendance.
Which brings me around to the Southern Cape Old Car Club* which will host the George Old Car Show this weekend (February 14/15 2015).
TWO DAYS A YEAR
The extravaganza is once again being held at the PW Botha College in York Street, George, that lovely little town on the Cape Garden Route.
The annual two-day event always seems to strike the right chord for classic-car enthusiasts – young and old – who enjoy strolling around what always seems to me to be the perfect setting that even offers a modicum of shade from the hot dry summer we’ve experienced thus far.
Vehicles at this show are always nicely spaced and not “roped off” – just as it should be so you can chat to erudite owners who are never far away from their prized possessions.
The show is always well supported by popular brands such as Austin-Healey, MG, Triumph and Morgan but the Borgward and DKW contingent, a stalwart automaker in the pioneering days of South African motoring, will do its level best to put on its best show yet given that the brand is being revived as a manufacturer.
WANT MORE INFO?
Modern classics, veterans and post-vintage thoroughbreds of every colour, engine size and description will be much in evidence – not forgetting the two-wheeled fraternity – always a strong component at the annual George show.
Want more info on the event? Contact Karen van der Merwe 082 774 8290 or Chris van Staden on 082 491 5254. (sub: is there a website, email?)
*The SCOCC is quite a young club, formed in 1988, but its success has been meteoric in size and stature. Its busy calendar takes in but is not limited to races, time trials, short or long excursions, social gatherings and events that deal with technical talks during which professionals and experts share their knowledge and experience.
