An extremely rare 1958 Pontiac Bonneville coupe was adjudged Best Overall Car on Display at the 2019 Knysna Motor Show in April.
It was a huge achievement for owner Kobus Mostert, as this year's show had attracted an extremely high standard of invited cars, among them no less than five Mercedes-Benz 300 SL models from the 1950s, the biggest single gathering of these iconic sports cars yet seen in South Africa.
The Best Old Car Trophy was a hugely popular choice, with the accent on "huge." The sight of John White manhandling the 1928 Bentley 4½ Litre into position in front of the podium recalled Ettore Bugatti's famous remark about these giant 1920s British sports racers resembling "flying lorries". The 91-year-old Bentley was one of over 20 classic Bentleys that celebrated 100 years of the famous British marque at this year's Knysna Motor Show.
The trophy for Best Classic Car went, fittingly, to a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, owned by Rick Garret and shown by Andre du Toit, one of five SLs that gathered in Knysna, which were also backed up by 10 Mercedes-Benz 190 SLs from the same era.
Other impressive gatherings at the show included an excellent display of Morgans celebrating the marque's 110th birthday and a selection of pristine original Mini derivatives. In anticipation of Mini's 60th birthday, which takes place later this year, a contingent of three Cooper S models from the 1960s was driven from Johannesburg to Knysna to join a similar Mini grouping from Cape Town and the other marvellous Minis on the field. The level of originality of these cars was particularly impressive paying tribute to the show's philosophy of keeping display cars on an "invitation-only" basis.
The Motorcycle Room Trophy produced a somewhat surprising winner this year in the form of the unusual customised modern BMW 1200 RS adventure bike, built to a level of showroom excellence by Wilderness custom bike builder Corrie Venter. This award was judged by visitors to this year's Knysna Motor Show.
The key elements of this year's show were the diversity of cars and motorcycles on display, and the level of presentation. The Garden Route Motor Club, which once again ran an excellently organised event, was particularly keen to showcase modern iconic machinery as well as cars and motorcycles that dated back more than 100 years.
All pictures: motorpress.co.za
