A chance meeting in Pretoria in 1966 led to the creation of the Pretoria Old Motor Club and the biggest car show in SA, the Cars in the Park. Founder member Steffan Stander of Cullinan will be on hand at this weekend’s 2025 edition of the classic cars get-together at Zwartkops raceway, with the exact car he drove on that fateful day nearly 60 years ago.
What happened was that Steffan was driving his then-36-year-old Model A Ford in the Arcadia area when he spotted a much older Model T Ford going in the other direction. He chased after the Model T — the image of two ancient cars chasing each other seems funny today — and Steffan signaled to the Model T driver to stop, just around the corner from the Loftus Versfeld rugby grounds.
The driver of the Model T was Erwin Kuschke, and right there on the street the two men established a lifelong friendship and had the idea of forming a club for old motor cars. That club celebrates its 60th birthday next year, while the Cars in the Park classic car show is in its 43rd rendition this year. Kuschke died a few years ago, but his sons Philip and Emil are at the forefront of the old-car movement in SA today.
Steffan turned 84 this year, and he has owned the Model A ever since that fateful meeting. That very car, with years of patina ingrained in its bodywork, will be in the Special Invites section of the show at the Zwartkops pit area on August 3. Steffan’s son Neil will be showing his own Model A Ford, along with a pristine 1967 Ford Mustang which he painstakingly restored a few years ago.
The Special Invites section celebrates four different genres of old-car passion this year: the Vintage genre (cars built up until 1930) will be represented by a 1928 Chevrolet Phaeton owned by Francois van Staden; a 1925 Citroen B12 Torpedo owned by Shaun Spaans; a 1926 Pontiac owned by Taco Kamstra; and a selection of Ford Model T and Model A machines. A 1930 Willys Sedan owned by William Watson is a rarity among the more mainstream US cars of this period.
A third genre for cars built between 1931 and 1945 will be headed by the 1933 Rolls-Royce owned by Bob Bouwmeesters, the 1937 Citroen Coupe/Faux Cabriolet owned by long-time Citroen Club member Joyce le Roux, the 1937 Cord 812 owned by Sakkie van der Watt, a rare 1937 DKW F7 owned by Corne Fourie and a ground-breaking American V12 1940 Lincoln owned by Justus de Waal.
The fourth genre of Special Invites sees a display of SA homologation specials, catering for very special cars with limited production runs from the 1970s to the 1990s to enable them to be classified as street cars, but eligible for racing. These will include the likes of Cortina and Capri Perana models as well as the Toyota TRD from the 1980s that was built with rallying in mind.
There will also be three Vintage Velocette motorcycles in the Zwartkops pits’ Special Invite section, owned by life-long classic motorcycle enthusiast Tom Linley.
Surrounding the Special Invites will be thousands of classics in this huge event, run by Frik Kraamwinkel and his team from the Pretoria Old Motor Club.
“This year our main theme is the history of the motor car,” says Kraamwinkel, “and SA is fortunate in having played a unique part of that history, being a manufacturer of vehicles dating back to 1923, when the first Fords were assembled here. But our decision some years ago to open the event to all sorts of interesting collectable cars has resulted in our admitting cars right up to 2025, as long as they have a special interest to car enthusiasts.”
A dyed-in-the-wool enthusiast and a long-time supporter of Cars in the Park is Colin Lazarus, owner of the massive Lazarus Motor Corporation headquarters, which has become a landmark on the N1 highway in the Centurion region. Colin’s connection to the Ford brand goes way back to the original Lazarus Ford garage in Bronkhorstspruit, which Colin took over as a young man in his 20s when his father died unexpectedly.
Across the way from the Special Invites section, Colin will be showing his amazing collection of modern Ford GT supercars, as well as a 1966 Ford GT40 and a 1957 Ford Thunderbird. At his special display upon the ridge near the top entrance to Zwartkops, look out for the classic Thames car transporter from the 1960s.
A new sponsor to the Cars in the Park extravaganza is Michael Pashut, who is showcasing his television show, All Things Motoring, which appears on Ignition TV. The official media partner for the Cars in The Park is Pretoria FM radio station, a long-term partner to this event.
There has been widespread support again from car clubs, and more than 100 of these clubs and groups will enjoy their place in the sun in the infield section of the Zwartkops race circuit. The Lions will once again assist with food and drink sales and this year there will be more than 160 stalls selling an array of food, beverages, special interest clothing and motoring related goods.
More than 2,500 classic cars, modern collectables, classic motorcycles and supercars are expected at Zwartkops on Sunday. The gates open to exhibitors from 6am, while gates open to the public at 8.30am.
Tickets are available from iTickets at R130 for adults with children under the age of 12 years admitted free. Tickets are also available at the gate for R150. Exhibitors in classic and collectable cars will be admitted free of charge, including one passenger. Extra adult passengers in exhibitors’ cars will have to pay the full admission price.
For more information visit www.POMC.co.za
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