ALL REVVED UP

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.

GLORY Wheels of

It’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.

Signature red colour, smooth racy lines and the rampant black stallion on the raked bonnet ... it could only be a Ferrari!

FRANSCHHOEK MOTOR MUSEUM The museum’s website – www.fmm.co.za – is a happy rabbit hole for lovers of motor vehicles to disappear down for hours, with information and pictures aplenty. The museum’s Facebook page is equally active with bookings (which are essential) being taken on email fmm@fmm.co.za or tel: 021 874 9002.

As self-drive cars and Artificial Intelligence emerge, it’s a good thing to look at the stories preserved in places like the Franschhoek Motor Museum.

Not restricted to international marques, it also offers a picture of South African ingenuity with, among others, GSM’s 1963 Dart – one of only 115 Darts to be built – and the 1964 Flamingo, one of only 150 made. The museum itself is described as “a special opportunity to look back at more than 100 years of motoring history with its unique and exciting collection of vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles and memorabilia”. But it’s more than that. It’s a snapshot of history itself, especially relevant at a time when the tools we once created have moved on to contain their own intelligence and threaten to spark a revolution in themselves.

As self-drive cars and Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerge, it’s a good thing to look at the stories preserved in places like the Franschhoek Motor Museum. The museum itself has a fascinating story and begins with the construction of the Heidelberg Station along a new railway laid by the Nederlandsche ZuidAfrikaansche Spoorwegmaatschappij (NZASM) in what was then Transvaal. The route from Delagoa Bay to Pretoria was completed and opened on November 2, 1894.

At one point however, a deviation was required in the line. The result was the abandonment of the old station. Years later, plans for restoration of the building were made, funded initially by the Simon van der Stel Foundation and completed by Dr Anton Rupert in 1974 – around the time he would establish a tobacco factory at this important transport link. A year later, the Heidelberg Motor Museum opened its doors. The official opening was attended by various dignitaries including the then saggy-jowled Prime Minster BJ Vorster.

Franschhoek Motor Museum curator Wayne Harley says the Heidelberg collection was a hit. “It showcased the history of road transport, taking us back to the days of the penny farthings and the Model T Fords and different formula type racing cars.

“The base to the collection was a group of cars that came in from the UK and was formally known as the Patrick Chapmen collection. Over the years the collection was added to and later became 83 cars strong.” There were also motorcycles, bicycles, old steam engines and trains to marvel at.

In 1999, the Heidelberg Motor Museum became part of the British American Tobacco SA company (BAT) – a move that spelled the end of a chapter. Four years later, BAT announced the museum would close. The Witbank-born Harley was tasked as curator to find a new home for the treasures.

“Most of 2004 was taken up in endless meetings with prospective investors but nothing materialised,” he recalls. With the threat of possible export, the collection was offered as an investment to Dr Rupert’s son, Johann, and a deal was struck. The cars would be “exported”, but only to the Cape. Their new home would be the Rupert winelands farm of L’Ormarins, home of Anthonij Rupert Wines.

Here, a perfect marriage would ensue. “L’Ormarins estate is known for offering wine lovers a rewarding blend of wine and natural beauty. And the historic car collection enhances the cultural experience.” The process of relocating the cars and collection from Heidelberg to L’Ormarins was started in March 2005 and took some 45 days.

Then, the “long and momentous” task of developing the Franschhoek Motor Museum got underway, Harley said.

BELOW: Chrome, wide leather upholstered bench seats and big tail wings pronounce this vehicle’s American origins. BOTTOM: The Drakenstein mountains loom over the four barns which house the rotating car displays. RIGHT: The Formula One car which had Rhodesian driver John Love behind the wheel. Love competed in Grand Prix racing between 1962 and 1975.

Over two years, four display halls along with an archive, reception, collection store, workshop and restoration department were built. Staff, including a full-time maintenance team, was appointed. The museum opened its doors in May 2007, a little over a year after the death of its founder. It has continued to expand on its collection – and now includes some of the world’s finest cars ever made. Intriguing newcomers constantly come across its way too. In January for example, Harley reported in his newsletter that a marathon Trabant, manufactured in the then East Germany from 1957 to 1990, had arrived.

Or the crash-tested Toyota Etios on display as part of the #SaferCarsForAfrica campaign – with a suitably smashed little red hatchback and accompanying multipleangle footage of the damage done when a car is hurtled at a stationary concrete block at 64km/h! It’s a sobering demonstration but also provides peace of mind regarding the efficacy of seatbelts and the overall safety of cars.

The passion of collectors and the liveliness of the collection has kept it a destination favourite. For example, visitor attendance for December 2016 (the museum’s busiest season) saw a record of 11 760 motor-lovers through the door.

THE LITTLE BIKE THAT COULD

Museum curator Wayne Harley has a twinkle in his eye when he talks about “the AJS”. “It would, in fact, make a wonderful movie,” he says. The story centres around Cranley Jarman from Nigel, who turned out from a young age to be a bike wizard. As it often is, he lived as a recluse and his farm home was a jumble of bikes and parts.

Among them was a 1926 350cm³ AJS G3, which Jarman converted into an Isle of Man TT G6-lookalike and entered what must have been the most gruelling race in Africa at the time, the now legendary D-J Run. It failed at first attempt in the 1932 race. Success, however, came in 1934 and was repeated two years later when Jarman won the event outright – on a 10-year-old machine. The event turned out to be the last D-J run as a race. Years later, motorcycle restorer Colin Anderton, who also lived in Nigel, heard the Jarman bike was looking for a home. Colin suggested the Heidelberg Motor Museum. Another classic bike restorer Hew Hollard was approached to lend a hand, but it was no easy task. The year was 1998; Hew was shown a pile of bits that had possibly last been a complete bike some six decades before. He rolled up his sleeves and in less than six months was back at the museum, job done.

Then in 1999, Hew entered the bike in what was now the D-J Commemorative Run. The little AJS managed the distance valiantly, finishing 111th. A year later, it finished 86th.

Nowadays, it is only taken out for its maintenance run, but there’s a lot of respect for the little engine. “It still doesn’t miss a beat,” Harley says.