The 'Woodstock' Classic Car Freaks
SA Hot Rods|Edition 104
In August, hippies old and young celebrated the 50th Anniversary of woodstock, the world's greatest music festival. Here in South Africa, the pretoria old motor club's cars in the park gig at zwarktops raceway is seen as the "Woodstock" of the classic car fraternity.
Stuart Johnston
The 'Woodstock' Classic Car Freaks

Being stuck in a traffic jam at 6am on a Sunday morning is no joke. But this was no ordinary traffic jam. This was a queue consisting of cars that you’d gladly line-up to see anywhere in the world, and in the case of the annual Cars in the Park pilgrimage to Zwartkops Raceway, the cars that start revving up outside the gate from 5.45 am are unique.

Where else could you see a Rat Truck, a giant truck-version of a rat rod that uses two Peterbilt V8 diesel engines joined one behind the other to produce 750 kW of motivation and enough torque to uproot the entire pit lane infrastructure at Zwartkops?

THE RAT TRUCK RULES

The Rat Truck, with the legend “Henkbilt” on its doors, was one of the spectator highlights at this year’s event which saw close to 3 000 cars and 13 000 spectators enjoying what turned out to be the first day of Spring in Pretoria on August 4, 2019.

The truck was a behemoth creation that also featured two turbochargers towering into the air like elephantine trumpets, what looked like World War Two bomb casings mounted just below the cabin, and, bizarrely, peace signs for indicator lights on the massive grille. Mad Max himself would have approved of Henk’s creation!

OLD ZEPHYRS AND A MINT MERC PEGODA

That early morning pre-dawn trip to Zwartkops enables you to see a plethora of cars being driven into the circuit, to join the other 2 999 special-interest vehicles that make this the biggest car show in Africa. Here you would see a pair of early 1950s Ford Zephyrs in preserved but unrestored trim followed closely by a mint lady-driven Mercedes-Benz 230 SL with the so-called Pegoda roof, worth a lot more than R1-million today.

Denne historien er fra Edition 104-utgaven av SA Hot Rods.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra Edition 104-utgaven av SA Hot Rods.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA SA HOT RODSSe alt
“My Pretty One” 1972 Opel Manta 1900
SA Hot Rods

“My Pretty One” 1972 Opel Manta 1900

Owner: J.S Orlandini

time-read
2 mins  |
Edition 111
Twin Turbo 350 Small Block Chevy
SA Hot Rods

Twin Turbo 350 Small Block Chevy

Designed and built by Nico at RS Performance

time-read
1 min  |
Edition 111
Building A Cal Look VW Beetle Part 1
SA Hot Rods

Building A Cal Look VW Beetle Part 1

There are few cars quite as cool as a souped-up VW Beetle that can easily kick the asses of more expensive car during a street race or on a drag strip.

time-read
6 mins  |
Edition 111
Sema Battle Of The Builders
SA Hot Rods

Sema Battle Of The Builders

2020 Winner Brady Ranweiler 1963 Chevy 2 Door Wagon

time-read
2 mins  |
Edition 111
Behind The Scenes At Disc Brakes Wildwood
SA Hot Rods

Behind The Scenes At Disc Brakes Wildwood

Wilwood's new facility adds an additional 100,000 squarefeet to its manufacturing arsenal. The barrage of CNC machinery is run for two shifts each day, up to six days a week, with tooling designed in-house. That adds up to 10 tons of shavings spit out of the CNC machines each month!

time-read
4 mins  |
Edition 111
The 100 Horsepower Upgrade: Cam Only 5.3L Test
SA Hot Rods

The 100 Horsepower Upgrade: Cam Only 5.3L Test

What’s a cam swap really worth?

time-read
4 mins  |
Edition 111
SA Hot Rods

THE HISTORY OF RODDING SOUTH AFRICA THE FIRST GENERATION PART 3

In this issue, we follow the story of Eddie Jardine and friends during their rodding days.

time-read
3 mins  |
Edition 111
Custom autosound
SA Hot Rods

Custom autosound

JAYCE’S CLASSICS SPARES OLD AIR PRODUCTS

time-read
2 mins  |
Edition 111
SA Hot Rods

E-STREET 2 EFI SYSTEM AFFORDABLE UNIVERSAL THROTTLE BODY ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION

Convert your V8 from a carburetor to the E-Street 2 EFI system in a single day with only basic mechanical skills and minimal tools.

time-read
2 mins  |
Edition 111
SA Hot Rods

AEROMOTIVE RELEASES NEW TRUE VARIABLE SPEED FUEL PUMP CONTROLLER

The state-of-the-art speed controller is designed to improve overall fuel system efficiency, reduce fuel temperatures and is compatible with Aeromotive’s line of brushless gear pumps.

time-read
1 min  |
Edition 111