METICULOUS MERCEDES

On a farm in the Overberg, Wynand du Toit opens the doors to a near clinically perfect environment where he houses his neat Mercedes-Benz collection and shares some of the stories behind collecting cars

- Wilhelm Lutjeharms

It is an immaculate space. Being so clear and white in colour, this garage, in its current state, truly allows the cars to shine. Your eyes don't have a choice but to fully focus on the objects in front of you. Wynand du Toit has collected his cars on a farm in the Overberg over a number of years.

"I remember as a child that my father drove Mercedes. He always used to send my mother to the dealership to buy a new car. But it had to be a diesel. So, in the early years it was a 220 diesel, then a 240, followed by two 300 diesel models. She always washed the cars herself, and that was the case until the day she died - she never allowed anyone else to wash her car.

She passed away three years ago at age 87. When she was 68 years old she still drove our grain truck and she would also change flat tyres on the gravel roads herself. I think I definitely got my love of cars and Mercedes from her.

"She used to give each car a name. When you start that, you know you have an automotive attachment problem. After I got married, I got a Mercedes-Benz and since then I've been driving them. However, with the deteriorating gravel roads, I've recently swapped to a Toyota Land Cruiser for my daily work.

"In 2001 I got a 500SL, an R129 from 1996 - it was a UK-specification car. But when the kids went to university I had to, unfortunately, sell the car. However, it was only a few years ago that I started collecting cars again. Over the years, I've asked fellow owners of specific cars to let me know one day when they want to sell their cars, and that is how I added most of these to my collection.