Visiting the same car museum again, even a few years after a first visit, could be a relatively unexciting prospect. However, here at Franschhoek the 80 vehicles on display are constantly exchanged – they have a total stock exceeding 220 – so repeat visitors get a different experience every time. The photo above shows three vehicles from the 1920s: a 1925 Chevrolet, a 1927 Buick, and a Hupmobile from 1929.
The shot below depicts one half of one of the four exhibition halls. Unlike several other car museums I have visited over the years, there is plenty of space and good lighting here.
Obviously, in a short piece like this there is no room for images of more than a few of the vehicles that were on show. I have tried to pick out some relatively uncommon ones, along with a couple I personally liked best. The one immediately below is a convertible Lorraine-Dietrich from 1911, the one after that a 1928 Rugby.
Wolseley was a major British manufacturer in the early part of the 20th century. The photo below shows their 12-16 model from 1910.
Rolls-Royce, of course, are a better known British brand and their Silver Ghosts were legendary. The one depicted below has a very complicated history, which you can delve into by following this link: https://www.fmm.co.za/rolls-royce-silver-ghost-2/
The two cars in the next shot are a red Austro-Daimler Bergmeister from 1935, and a blue 1936 Auburn Speedster, respectively. Both very stylish, in my opinion.
The Cord 810 Convertible from 1936 also appealed to me. The coffin-shaped bonnet and the hidden headlights make it stand out from other cars of that era. The company, however, collapsed not long after this model was introduced.
The final photo shows a 1957 Protea two-seater sports car, the very first South African production car. The factory only ever produced some 20 vehicles, though.
The Protea had a fibreglass body, a new technology at the time.
