Cars in the Park on Sunday

The Zwartkops Raceway will host the 38th running of the Pretoria Old Motor Club’s annual Cars in the Park extravaganza this Sunday.

The event – easily the biggest car show of any type in Africa – is expected to attract some 10 000 spectators over the course of the day.

The Zwartkops gates will be open from 6am, with main organizer Frik Kraamwinkel hoping to have more than 2 500 classic cars parked around the race track by 8am.

Gate crews will admit any cars older than 1985 models, while special concessions will be made for newer exotics like Ferraris.

More than 100 car clubs should attend, including Mercedes-Benz, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Buick, Cadillac, Renault, Fiat, Borgward, Jaguar, Daimler, Rolls Royce, Panard, Chevrolet, Daewoo, Opel, Toyota and Volvo.

Production vehicles apart, there will be displays of race cars from the Mahem Oval circuit, dragsters, road rods and vintage cars.

It is expected that the Special Invites section in the pits will include some of the earliest Fords seen in South Africa from 1903 onwards. “This Ford theme is in honour of our association with the Lazarus Motor Company, which started in 1957, and started selling Fords as early as 1961,” says Kraamwinkel.

The Lazarus Group will celebrate its 60th anniversary at Cars in the Park this year.

The company, which holds franchises for Ford, Mazda, Jaguar, Land Rover and Kia, will exhibit its own collection of classics.

There will be well over 100 stalls selling motor-related paraphernalia, food and drinks, and there will be special entertainment for children.

The annual SABAT Power Wheelchair Race is scheduled to start at 2pm on the kart circuit next to the Zwartkops pits.

The gates to the public will open at 8am, and the show will run until 4pm.

Spectator admission will cost R100 per adult, with children younger than 12 years getting free access.

Drivers of classic cars will be admitted free of charge, along with a passenger.