Basil ‘Mr Perana’ Green honoured
ACCOLADE: SA LEGEND TO BE INDUCTED IN HALL OF FAME
Set to join other motorsport greats like Van der Merwe and Scheckter.
Ford performance car legend Basil Green, also referred to as “Mr Perana” will be inducted to the South African Hall of Fame at the end of the month. The induction will form part of this year’s Concours South Africa – Africa’s premier classic car showcase – that will return to Johannesburg’s Steyn City Parkland Residence from August 30 to September 1.
Basil Green’s admission into the Hall of Fame follows last year’s induction of Rory Byrne, Michael Schumacher’s seven-time championship-winning Formula 1 designer.
The Hall of Fame honours outstanding achievements among South Africans from all walks of life.
Inductees include Nelson Mandela, golfer Gary Player and Olympian Wayde van Niekerk.
Several luminaries from the
racing and automotive industry have joined these icons since Concours joined forces with the Hall of Fame, including Ian Scheckter, Sarel van der Merwe and 2019 Daytona 24-hour victor Wayne Taylor.
Green made his mark in local performance car folklore by shoehorning large-capacity engines into relatively ordinary Ford production cars.
His first Perana was the 1967 Cortina MKII, where he squeezed a three-litre Ford Essex V6 into an engine bay usually reserved for a four-cylinder engine.
The Cortina Perana raced onto South Africa’s lightly-trafficked roads, while at the same time making its mark on the country’s racetracks.
Racing legends Koos Swanepoel and Bobby Olthoff drove Cortina Peranas to multiple victories and to SA national championships.
Green’s next trick cemented the Perana brand as an icon in South African motoring history.
He extracted the V6 engines from Ford’s Capri coupe and replaced them with five-litre V8 powerhouses from the Mustang.
The Ford Capri Perana V8 hit the local motorsport scene like a sledge hammer, while at the same time rewriting the road car rulebook.
In its signature Gunston livery, Bobby Olthoff’s Ford Capri Perana utterly dominated on track in 1970, smashing the outright saloon car lap record at every circuit on the championship trail.
At the same time, road car production was in full flight, with over 550 Capri Perana V8s built at Green’s workshop in Edenvale.
Fans will get a chance to view some of these legendary cars at Concours South Africa 2019.