As the weather has (finally!) taken a turn towards summer here in the Cape, motoring opportunities for enthusiasts are clearly picking up. We speak to Colin Greyvensteyn, the main organiser of this exciting upcoming event.
Words: Wilhelm Lutjeharms
If you have a classic car, set aside the 19th of November. Not only will there be a car show at The Old Tannery (which we’ve featured before), but this day will also see the return of the Century Classic Car & Bike Run.
The idea behind the event, apart from aiming to to have 100 entrants, is that the owner and the car entered must have a combined age of 100 years, or more. However, the entire theme is around the number 100.
Colin Greyvensteyn, the main organiser, in conjunction with the Triumph Sports Car Club, explained more about the upcoming event.
“Starting in 2007, the Cape Vintage Motorcycle Club along with the Triumph Motorcycle Owners Club started organising an annual “Century Run”. This ran on for a number of years but was only open to motorcycles. The first time the Triumph Sports Car Club did this event was in 2016, which was open to cars.”
“The event went through a bit of a break just before and then during Covid and I chatted to the Triumph Sports Car Club a few years ago to revive the idea and we are making it an annual event again, although in this current format the Century Run is open to motorcycles and cars as long as the age of the driver and vehicle together add up to 100. And the entrance fee is R100 as well.”
There is also a strong charity side to the event, Colin explains: “The event takes place on the second-last weekend of November every year and we collect toys and money for children in need. The run supports the Red Cross Children’s Hospital and members of the public are also welcome to donate toys.”
To continue with the Century theme, the run will be 100 km in length. It will start at Century City with entrants arriving from around 08:30 before departing from 10:30. They will make their way along the back of Durbanville, passing the Spice Route at the back of Paarl, down the R101 before arriving at the Winelands Light Railway, which is on the R44 leading into Stellenbosch.
At both the starting point and the end point the public will be able to enter and view the cars. In Century City the cars will get together at Century Avenue next to the MyCiti Century Gate bus stop, at the Bosmansdam entrance to Century City, just past Porsche Centre Cape Town.
“The oldest car last year was a 1911 Sunbeam. There was also a Rover from 1912, driven by a 28-year old, giving the greatest discrepancy in age. The oldest combined age was 180 by John Ryall in his 1911 Sunbeam, narrowly missed by Brian Wallace on his 1914 Douglas motorcycle who broke down along the way but would have hit 185.”
Some exciting entries so far include a 1932 Lagonda, a number of Triumphs and MGs and a bunch of motorcycles from the 1930s. Currently, the most modern car is a 1988 Ferrari 328 GTS.
A number of prizes will be given out at the end of the event. These will include various milestones in age (175, 180 185 for example), as well as for the oldest driver, oldest car, biggest combined age and biggest age variance in vehicle and driver.
To enter the run, follow the link to complete the form: https://forms.gle/gYjFXe23cRaZAVaX8