HOWZIT MY GUZZI?
If you have a two-wheel fascination, chances are you have picked up a copy of Bike SA. Once you manage to tear your eyes away from the classified section, you will probably stumble across content written by one Charley Cooper.
Author: paul@classiccarafrica.co.za
THE PINNACLE POINT
There’s a painting (or more correctly a print) that hung on my parents’ living room wall for as long as I can remember. Originally painted by Terence Cuneo, it depicts the 1929 Le Mans scene where the d’Erlanger Bentley stops in the pits to replenish…
AFTER THE FINS HAVE GONE
Introduced at the 1965 Frankfurt Motor Show, in what became a Mercedes-Benz trend, the W108 series Mercedes-Benz raised the bar in terms of mass-production luxury saloons – not only in-house but for the motor industry in general. Such was the quality that many are still…
SHEER OFF-ROADING PLEASURE
The original Land Rover fathered the off-road automotive industry as we know it and remained in production for close on 70 years. A remarkable run which saw its basic format largely unchanged, apart from a series of engine changes in an ongoing quest for efficiency…
BRITAIN’S BEST EXPORT
Triumph Motorcycles has, like all British motor manufacturers, endured plenty of turmoil since its founding 120-odd years ago. But unlike so many Brit brands it survives today, thriving with a range of technically advanced machines and a healthy dose of retro-styled offerings that pay homage…
A STING IN THE TALE
The rear-engined 911 was introduced in 1963 and has been steadily developed ever since. A successor to the 356, the 911 has become one of the world’s most iconic cars, even staving off an in-house threat from 1976 to 1995 by the front-engined 924/928/944/968 evolution…
VETTE-ER-RUN
When Chevrolet displayed its concept sports car at GM’s Motorama in 1953, who would have thought that 68 years and seven generations later it would still be going strong?
THE DARK DAYS ARE OVER
Post-war 1950s motoring was dominated by a class of car that we now refer to as the ‘people’s car’. It was a time for living life and mobilising the masses. America saw the birth of the Tri-Five Chevrolet, while Germany and France employed pre-war designs…
FINS FOR FINESSE
The driveway of our family home in Cape Town has seen a variety of cars grace its tarmac over the last six decades, as the family photo albums attest. Standouts include a bright red Borgward Isabella (bought new from Wolman Motors in 1958) and a…
GONE WITH THE WIND
VW has a tradition of naming its water-cooled cars after winds. There’s the Golf (German for gulf and short for Gulf Stream Wind), the Bora (a cold Hungarian wind blowing onto the Adriatic Sea), the Passat (a trade wind) and the Scirocco. Scirocco is a…