From its early days as a small gathering of classic cars owned by members of the Garden Route Motor Club, Knysna Motor Show, under the direction of former chairman Peter Pretorius, developed into one of the foremost events of its kind in South Africa.
But times have changed. A new Club committee foresaw that traditionalism was giving way to progressivism and that the Love of Cars extends across a broad spectrum of classic, custom, collectible and supercars. Taking the lead, the Club introduced Cars@Coffee three years ago as a monthly platform for regional motoring enthusiasts to voluntarily “drive and display” the cars they love to share with each other and the public.
“This venture has proved so successful that the Club has agreed to reconstitute Knysna Motor Show as an expanded version of our popular Cars@Coffee outings,” says Mark Barendse, Chairman of the Garden Route Motor Club.
“To make this work, we have entered into a formal partnership with Rotary Knysna for this event. Our joint objective is to build on the Love of Cars through the new Cars@Coffee Show as a platform to raise voluntary funds for development projects under the auspices of Rotary.
“An important decision is that there will be no admission charge for participants or the public on the day. However, we will be requesting owners who wish to display their cars, to make a voluntary donation for the benefit of Rotary.
“The event will again be held on Thesen Island, surrounded by the Knysna Estuary, an ideal heritage backdrop.”
“The Cars@Coffee idea really took hold in 2023 when we arranged to host a Cars@Coffee meeting on the Wilderness Common, and straight away our attendance figures more than doubled to 74 cars. We realised that there is huge interest for informal get-togethers that complement a formal car show. So this year we are sending out the word to a broader audience in the Western and Southern Cape, and we also hope to attract cars from as far afield as Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.”
Barendse says that in the days of the Knysna Motor Show it was necessary to raise meaningful sponsorship and charge a substantial public entry fee to defray the costs of staging the show and generate a surplus for distribution to selected charities. “By making Cars@Coffee an informal voluntary gathering we aren’t faced with those organisational challenges. And of course, all the coffee shops and breakfast outlets benefit from the increase in turnover, while Knysna Rotary is delighted to be tasked with the collection of donations and administering the contributions to appropriate beneficiaries.”
Barendse says that one of the motivating ideas behind Cars@Coffee get-togethers over the past two years has been to expand the Love of Cars beyond the confines of the traditional classic car movement. “Traditional club events tend to involve the same cars and owners each month. But as we moved Cars@Coffee meets out of town to Wilderness and Plettenberg Bay we found that we had a much more diverse gathering. For instance, over three Cars@Coffee meets we had cars ranging from 100-year-old Ford Model T to the very latest Aston Martin Vanquish. And since then we have had motorcycles ranging from classic Vespas to the latest Ducatti’s joining us.
“Thesen Island is the ideal venue to host the Knysna Cars@Coffee Show. It has a beautiful parking and display area offering uninterrupted backdrops of the lagoon.
“We do not plan to fence off the area. This will allow freedom of access, however we will encourage our core group of enthusiasts to arrive early on the day and select the prime parking spots.”
Interested spectators can expect a feast of automotive machinery that will cover the 20th century spectrum of time and marques plus the best of the modern era.
The Garden Route Motor Club will be canvassing its members and friends across the Southern Cape and beyond, to join us on the day. There will be a provision for individuals, groups or clubs to pre-register and secure their spot at the venue. This will include a request for a donation commitment towards Rotary Knysna. But for those enthusiasts in the area that are keen to attend, please visit the event’s Facebook page, found at https://www.facebook.com/events/CarsCoffeeKynsna.
Or visit the Garden Route Motor Clubs website on https://grmc.co.za
