LEISURE |
WITH ALL THIS TALK OF SELF-DRIVE CARS, IT’S GOOD TO LOOK AT HOW FAR WE’VE COME IN JUST OVER A CENTURY. A GREAT PLACE TO CHART THE EVOLUTION IS AT THE FRANSCHHOEK MOTOR MUSEUM, WRITES CLIFFORD ROBERTS.
Wheels of
GLORY I
t’s a rollercoaster, I think to myself as I hit the accelerator up the Helshoogte Pass and leave the infernal congestion of Stellenbosch behind. Here though, the thrill isn’t ups and downs, but the burst of fresh air and mind-blowing beauty of the jagged Drakenstein mountains and vineyards along a road that rolls so, so easily. If you think about it, it’s an uncanny primer for the gem of a museum just around the corner. Having travelled here by road, there’s no reason not to immediately fall in love with the exhibits at the Franschhoek Motor Museum at L’Ormarins. Even if you’re not a petrolhead, you’re practically converted by the time you pull up at the gate. The collection comprises a total of around 320 vehicles with 80 on a rotating display. Go now and it reads like a who’s who to those in the know: from a 1903 Ford Model A to a 2010 Ferrari 599 GTO while the museum itself has made friends who are equally who’s who. At the 2013 Top Gear festival in Durban, former Formula One World Champion Mika Häkkinen, the original flying Finn who raced (and beat) all-time greats Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher in their prime – took the museum’s 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing for a spin to great applause.
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