A salute to our Champions
At Zwartkops on the 1st February 2020 we can all experience what South Africans achieved in the early 1960’s. South Africa ruled in modifying and developing Alfa twin cam engines which in many instances beat the engines of the day (Climax Borgword) and then proceeded to build cars which challenged the best of Lotus, Cooper.
Our Champions – cars and drivers.
The ex-Syd vd Vyver Lotus 18 Alfa. Syd put an Alfa motor in a Cooper which astounded the overseas visitors at East London in 1960. So much so that Stirling Moss invited Syd to build an Alfa engine for Rob Walker – Stirling’s sponsor. Syd won the SA National Championship in 1960 and 1961. The Lotus 18 Alfa will be at Zwartkops on the 1st of February.
The ex-Tony Maggs, Ernest Pieterse Heron Alfa. This car won the opening Formula One race at Kyalami in November 1961. It raced in the East London, Rand Cape Grand Prix with Ernest at the wheel. The car returns to South Africa in the capable hands of Eddy Perk.
Then Garry Hockings 1962 Lotus 18/21 Gary Hocking world motorcycle champion 350cc and 500cc switched to cars and raced this Lotus Climax. He won every race that he entered and set the ultimate lap record at the old Zwartkops in November 1962. Gary was on his way to become double world Champion on 2 and 4 wheels when he died tragically at the Natal Grand Prix driving Rob Walkers Lotus 24.
The Trevor Blokdyk Cooper Alfa – Trevor raced Speedway, racing 250 Grand Prix bikes before switching to cars with a type T56 Cooper. Trevor had a meteoric racing career, racing Formula Three and had a contract from Lotus/Colin Champman to drive Formula Two. Trevor had a terrible accident racing in Sweden and never fully recovered. He did return to South Africa, and almost won the SA National Championship in the Cooper (by then Lotus Twin Cam) in 1964.
What made it possible for South Africans to race Formula One was the shear genius of Doug Serrurier who built ten Formula One cars based on Cooper and then Brabham designs. Doug raced Formula One in cars designed and built by himself even before Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren and John Surtees built their own cars.
Two of the LDS’s will be racing at Zwartkops. Doug’s own personal car and an earlier model.
Gino Lupini imported a Cooper in 1960 and fitted (it just had to be Italian) it with a Maserati engine. The Lupini Cooper Maserati was heavy but with John Love, Trevor Blokdyk, Doug Serrurier and Don Philip had some impressive results.
All these cars left South Africa many years ago but thanks to HGPCA they have returned for a short while. Zwartkops the 1st of February and Killarney on the 8th of February.
Great cars, and drivers. It is the cars who are the stars! See you at Zwartkops.