Antique cars in South Africa

In Ghana, one rarely sees a car older than 15 years old. Ghanaians think old cars are hilarious and can't understand why anyone would want to have one. In terms of antique cars, Ghana is a wasteland.

South Africa, however, is a place where classic automobiles are appreciated. One day, while visiting the historic town of Graaff-Reinet, we noticed a gathering of people and went to see what it was about. Why, it was the Bentley Club, of course, taking their 1920s-era Bentleys out for a spin.



All of the Bentleys had badges reading "Tour of South Africa 2007" on their grills or front bumpers. Each badge noted the owner's country of origin. There were cars there from the US, Australia, and England as well as South Africa. So presumably these drivers had to ship their giant vehicles over here for this motor tour. Wonder how much that costs.



In the town of Uitenhage, we visited the Volkswagen Museum. It's attached to a VW plant where they have been manufacturing VWs for decades. This plant started out making Studebakers.



The museum is pretty impressive and has some flashy displays as well as mint-condition old VWs, such as the shiny Beetle above.



We saw this old Benz at a refurbished old-timey service station in Thomas River.