Blog
Fathers’ Day Bonanza
Mother Nature provided sunny and warm winter Cape weather for Fathers’ Day 2019 and 875 visitors visited the Franschhoek Motor Museum on the day. The turnout was well over last year’s figure, highlighting the increasing popularity of this annual event. All the vehicles in the display halls were shown with bonnets up, and 32 more…
Collection in action: Marquette
Mike Monk drives a rare Marquette, which was introduced 90 years ago to bridge a gap between Buick and Oldsmobile, but it proved to be a bridge too far… In the late-1920s, a number of American automobile manufacturers, especially GM, were on a mission to produce ‘companion cars’ to some of their established…
On yer bike: Honda XL 1000 Varadero
This month, FMM Curator answers a question he gets asked a lot, namely ‘So what do you ride, Wayne?’ Since I started riding bikes back in the Dark Ages, apart from the odd BSA I’ve always had a Japanese motorcycle and over time have had examples from all the main Japanese brands – Honda,…
Memorabilia: Texaco
This month FMM assistant curator Cheslynne Ruiters lubricates these pages with the brief history of a famous oil company… During the late 20th century, Texaco was one of the world’s largest oil companies in terms of sales. Texaco was founded in Beaumont, Texas in 1902 by Joseph S Cullinan, a former Standard Oil…
Deon departs
There is an adage that says ‘there is a time to come and a time to go’. At the end of May, FMM bade farewell to one of its long-time employees Deon De Waal, who has decided to go and enjoy his retirement. Deon certainly left his mark on the museum in many ways, but…
Slot car championship
At the June meeting of the FMM Slot Car Championship season, Jon Lederle regained top spot in the Formula Carrera category with his Audi RS5 DTM, beating May meeting’s winner Mark Venske’s BMW M4 DTM by one lap, although Mark once again set the fastest lap of the event. Jackie van Wyk’s Audi RS5 DTM…
Charitable Knysa: Knysna Motor Show
The Knysna Motor Show held in April 28 was again a great success. Around 5 500 people visited KMS, which is now rated as one of the best motor shows in SA. After accounting for the show’s expenses, the organisers were able to donate R108 000 to local charities, namely Knysna & Sedgefield Hospice, Knysna…
Gently in the Bentley
The Centenary Vintage Bentley Tour had over 20 cars entered that represented a large portion of the early cars that are still in SA. The Franschhoek Motor Museum is always busy around this time of year but could not pass up the opportunity of sending a car along to celebrate an important milestone in the…
Giro dei Vigneti Tour
FMM was recently approached by the CIAO Club South Africa (Classic Italian Automobile Owners) to participate in the inaugural Giro dei Vigneti (lap of the Vineyards). The event was the initiative of Sonja-Liezel Theron out of a promise made to friend and CIAO founder Nick Pryke before, sadly, he passed away. The idea was to…
Knysna Motor Show
An extremely rare 1958 Pontiac Bonneville coupe was adjudged Best Overall Car on Display at the 2019 Knysna Motor Show, organised by the Garden Route Motor Club and held at the Knysna High School Sports Fields on April 28. “I have rarely seen a car with this level of originality,” said chief judge Wayne Harley, Curator…