Old cars wave PW Botha College goodbye
Next year, when the 23rd George Old Car Show winds down on Sunday afternoon 10 February, the procession of classic cars will drive out of the PW Botha College gate in York Street for the very last time.
Last Friday the vice-chairman of the Southern Cape Old Car Club, Japie Beyers, announced that as of 2020, the show will be moved to Glenwood House due to visitor parking problems.
At the media launch at the King George Protea Hotel, he said the show had grown to such an extent that the parking at the college has become inadequate.
The event will take place at Glenwood House, with parking at the George Riding Club opposite the school.
The old car show will bid PW Botha College farewell on the weekend of 9 and 10 February 2019. According to Beyers the club has no choice. "Sadly we have to look at the bigger picture. Cars were parking on the median strip of York Street and took up most of the parking at York Boulevard across the road. It seriously affected traffic, safety and turnover in the area."
PW Botha College headmaster Pieter Myburgh says they are sad to see the show go, but understand the reasons for the move. "We are parting ways with the organisers on excellent terms."
The first George Old Car Show was held on Paul Fick's farm, Blackwood, near Victoria Bay in 1997. The next year the show moved to the George Riding Club in Glenwood Road, but the venue became too small and it moved to PW Botha College in 2001. Last year a whopping 13 000 people attended the show. The main sponsor of the
2019 George Old Car Show will once again be Oakhurst Insurance and George Municipality has also upped its sponsorship. About 1 000 old cars are expected to be on display in 2019 with the focus on rare collectors' items.
At the launch George Speaker Gerrit Pretorius said in spite of the challenges facing the world, people always find the money to play, without which the core of humanity's very existence would crumble.
He said George Municipality is proud to be associated with the old car show - a huge tourism building block and wonderful playground.
32 million to 1,4 billion
Event organiser Alewijn Dippenaar of Interface by Goji, provided interesting automobile facts and figures.
He said in 1929 the word had 32 028 500 automobiles in use and the US industry produced over 90%.
In 1997 a total of 54 million vehicles were produced and just 20 years later, in 2017, this had grown to 95 million. At 29 million vehicles China is the leading producer, outnumbering the US by 18 million per year.
In 2007, 806 million vehicles were on the road, using 980 billion litres of fuel. This increased to 1,4 billion in 2018 and will reach 2 billion in 2035.
The Veteran Tour will take place on 8 February. "The tour, supported by Airoclassics, will depart from Klaarstroom on the Friday morning," said tour organiser Philip Kuschke. "We expect some 20 cars to take part. Two or three of these will be single cylinder cars manufactured before 1905 and will fit in nicely with the focus on rare and exclusive cars."
Give a man a car, he will be happy for a day; give a man a woman, he will be happy for the night; give a man a woman who loves cars, he will be happy for life. Author unknown
Vehicles manufactured before 1975 may be exhibited. Register at www.scocc.co.za and contact Klaus Oellrich on 076 764 0897. Stall holders application forms on website or contact Mike van der Steen on 083 280 3653.