The second annual Concours South Africa event took place at Sun City this past weekend, attracting more than 50 of South Africa’s neatest and rarest cars – the oldest being a 1913 Buick.

Favourites amongst the public were two recent restorations, a 1971 Dino 246 GTB (the small Ferrari) owned by Vic and Gerhard Campher, and Peter Bailey’s 1970 Lamborghini Miura S.

However, last year’s winner, a beautiful De Tomaso Pantera GT5, set the bar high and the quality of entries this year was undoubtedly tough.

In the end, it was a gorgeous 1989 Ferrari F40 that took overall honours.

This immaculate example, one of just a handful residing in South Africa, is owned by Keith Rivers.

Rivers is famous in South Africa as one of the founder members of the Tiger Wheels organisation, and also for his exploits in motocross and motorcycle enduros.

Second place overall went to the un-restored and immaculately-preserved 1968 Shelby Mustang GT350H, owned by Dainfern’s Ravi Chetty.

This car was one of the last special Hertz rent-a-car Mustangs produced by Ford and Shelby in 1968, and was imported here from America a couple of years ago.

In a somewhat surprising third place was the immaculate 1970 Porsche 911 S “short-wheelbase” model, owned by Porsche expert Tim Abbot of Johannesburg.

The surprising aspect of this award was that, alongside many more flamboyant and exotic entries, the little Irish Green Porsche looked remarkably understated.

This year the judging panel, headed by Wayne Harley, curator of the Franschhoek Motor Museum, included the CEO of Coys of Kensington, Chris Routledge, and Octane Magazine editor Robert Coucher.

Routledge remarked that the overall presentation and setting of Concours South Africa was already well up to the standards of the best events internationally.

Harley comments: “In 2017 we have set the bar very high as far as the judging standards are concerned. We are taking this event to an international level, and our car restorers in this country can only learn from the input from our panel, which has vast experience in both local and international concours events.”

“Not only was the entry well up, but the standard of entries rose exponentially over our inaugural year in 2016.

“This year we had international presence with guests from New York and the United Kingdom, and we have even bigger plans for next year!” says organiser Paul Kennard.

The Results of Concours South Africa 2017 are as follows:

Overall:
Ferrari F40, 1989, owned by Keith Rivers.
Shelby Mustang GT350H, 1968, owned by Ravi Chetty.
Porsche 911 S, 1970, owned by Tim Abbot.

Cass Winners:
Class 1 B. SS Jaguar 2,5 Sedan, 1939, owned by Roger Martin and Fiona Hampson-Searle.
Class 2 A. Volvo PV 445 Wagon, 1958, owned by Vic and Gerhard Campher.
Class 2 B. Austin Healey BN6, 1958, owned by Ben Gerber.
Class 3 A/1. Mazda R100 Coupe, 1970, owned by Peanuts Fouche.
Class 3 A/2. Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III, 1964, owned by Gustav Raubenheimer.
Class 3 B/1. Shelby Mustang GT350H, 1968, owned by Ravi Chetty.
Class 3 B/2. Porsche 911 S, 1970, owned by Tim Abbot.
Class 4 A/2. Daimler Double Six, 1989, owned by Steve Koterba.
Class 4 A/1. Ferrari F40, 1989, owned by Keith Rivers.
Class 5 Show and Shine. MG Twin Cam, 1958, owned by Neville Conchar.
Class 5 Resto Mod. 1994 AC Cobra replica, owned by Willem Stieler.