Central region

Central Region kept warm during the winter months

By: Jaco Kachelhoffer

Following the success of the Club’s National Gathering in Mossel Bay during June 2022, our region had to go back to the cold weather of the Free State and Northern Cape!

There is no better way to combat the cold than with a glass of Old Brown Sherry (a.k.a Vrystaat Kombersie) in hand. So, we kickstarted our July event with a soup and sherry evening at our barn on Friday 22 July where we hosted, apart from our Bloemfontein members, our Upington members en route to Frankfort the next day. The biltong and chilli butternut soup went off quite well with the OBS and we set a good start to the rest of our weekend.

On Saturday morning our group left Bloemfontein to travel to Frankfort for the long-awaited visit to view Paul van Wyk’s collection of beauties. The little bit of tar around the potholes on the Free State roads resulted in us merrily zig-zagging all over the place and for once it was not the result of too many OBS’s! Upon our arrival we were treated to a scrumptious lunch at The Linkview Guesthouse and then it was time to feast our eyes.

We knew beforehand that we were going to be in awe of what we were about to see – we just did not realise the extent that our awe would take. Paul really has an impressive collection of both older and newer models, not only Mercedes-Benzes with exceptionally low kilometre readings, but his love for all classics shows in his Borgwards, Peugeots etc. etc. Way too many to mention all of them.

Like a child with free reigns in a chocolate shop, you could just feast on the sight of rows upon rows of beautiful classics! You won’t find another collection like Paul’s very easily. We reluctantly left the collection to go to dinner at the guesthouse that evening. Breakfast the next morning was also at the Linkview Guesthouse (if ever you are in Frankfort, we can certainly recommend that you pay a visit to them as well). Paul and Thea really spoilt us over the course of the weekend.

We were in for another treat on the Sunday morning in that we paid a visit to our member, Koos Kruger and his wife Hannie, on his farm near the town of Villiers. Apart from the varied collection of beautiful classics (and motorbikes) awaiting us, milk tart and coffee were also served – true Free State hospitality. We were sad to leave

for our various destinations, but we were also happy to know that Paul and Koos have certainly placed Frankfort and Villiers on the must-see classic vehicles map!

Our August events were on a much smaller scale. On the 3rd of August 2022 a few of our region’s members attended another “Technical Evening” at Silverton Radiators, arranged by Charlie Simkin. This visit was once again very interesting and we learned that a car’s radiator is quite a complex component which needs regular service and maintenance, while the correct anti-freeze (and mixture thereof) is of utmost importance for the longevity of your car’s engine. On the 9th of August a few members of the Free State Veteran Car Club joined us for a braai at the Kachelhoffer barn.

In warmer September it was time for our Club’s flagship event, the National Concours. I was happy that I could convince three of our members to take part in this event and months of hard work was rewarded when all three of them did extremely well in their respective divisions. Niekie Nell was second in the Concours d’ Etat Stroke 8 with his 1974 280E W114; Van Zyl van Pletsen also placed second in the Concours d’Etat

Fintail with his 1963 Finny, while Fanie du Preez claimed the first spot in the Concours d’Elegance Youngtimer with his 1985 W123 280E. Central Region is proud of our members’ success in this event!

Towards the end of September, we were also looking forward to an event that was

postponed previously due to CoVid restrictions: a visit to our Northern Cape Vaalharts region. On Saturday 24 September the members travelling from Bloemfontein and Upington had to meet up with the local members at Warrenton, but due to our navigator Annalie, some of us went ahead to Christiana where everybody at last met up at the premises of Rascal Seed Research Laboratories. Our member and CEO/founder of Rascal Seeds, Dawie Ras, gave us a totally new insight on potatoes! Their minituber production is carried out in insect-proof, climate-controlled greenhouses under very stringent regulations and with high-tech production techniques. He also showed us their medicinal Cannabis greenhouse where the same high standards are maintained.

This was followed by a lunch at the Border Hotel in Jan Kempdorp, from where we were driven (very suitably) in a Mercedes-Benz Vito to the Vaalharts Veteran Club Museum so we could view their outstanding collection of classic tractors; kept in very good condition. One turn of the key is enough to start them. From there we went to club member Kobus Du Plessis and wife Willa’s farm near Magogong to enjoy their collection of classic vehicles, tractors and other memorabilia from years gone by. A very festive dinner at the Border Hotel awaited us, where we were given a goody bag filled with pecan nuts, peanuts, wines and other famous treats from that region. Thank you to Bart Opperman and Johann Smit for sponsoring our goodies.

After breakfast on Sunday, we visited the collection of a nonclub member, Jopie Fourie in Warrenton. Jopie also has a varied collection of classics with (among others) a very scarce 380SL R107 and a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II – both in mint condition. From there we travelled back to Kimberley where we enjoyed lunch in the company of some of our Kimberley members.

Our sincere thanks to Bart, Johann and all the others involved in arranging a very enjoyable weekend for us! We were sad that so many of our Bloemfontein members missed out on this event. Our thanks also go to our very active Upington members committing to long hours of driving to attend our events during this quarter, and also to Paul and Thea van Wyk (Frankfort) who rarely miss a club event.

Our last event for the year will be our year-end function and Annual General Meeting at the end of November 2022. Our membership numbers are still picking up and we hope to continue this trend. All in all, our region has a very good quarter in the rear-view mirror.