Why not re-live the grand past of South African motoring?

The Great Tour

Over the last two years, you’ll see that we featured The Great Train race that takes place in Heidelberg, re-enacting the legendary 1930 tale of a Bentley taking on Le Train Bleu.

If you missed it, you can catch up on it all right here.

There is a second part to this seriously cool event. The day after the re enactment, classic car and motorcycle enthusiasts take off for an epic tour across South Africa on or in their old girls.

Epic is the correct word – South Africa is blessed with some of the very coolest roads and destinations – the expression that we have a whole world in one country is absolutely true. Just ask anyone who travels here. Classic machine addict Yuvi Jasti and his team has taken it a step further by taking participants back in time with a rolling display of amazing classic machines to some really unique and interesting destinations over 15 days.

Pre-1970 cars and pre-1946 motorcycles take to the open road, taking in the breathtaking landscapes, forgotten towns, and vast stretches of Karoo stillness that SA has on offer. This isn’t a race, it’s a 4000KM celebration of grit, spirit, and mechanical soul.

Inspired by the USA’s Cannonball run, Yuvi decided to start exploring and put an event like that together for classic machines in what he has described as an even better setting. An immersive experience, open roads, man and machine.

It all starts with a leg through to Welkom, the first city in the world to ever have traffic circles. We bet that you didn’t know that! Flamingoes and a very rich mining history await participants and the visitors to SA who have participated are simply blown away. That day is rounded out by a visit to an amazing classic motorcycle collection.

The event then trundles off towards Kimberly with a stay at a hotel that overlooks The Big Hole and a tour of the very historic mine. In Yuvi’s words, “By then, everything that can shake, rattle and roll on these old vehicles has shaken, rattled and rolled”.

From Kimberly is the first really long leg of the journey, 400KM’s to Upington for the first rest day. Every third day on the Great tour is a rest day, both for body and soul and, of course, the opportunity to make sure that your machine keeps rumbling along. But there’s also the opportunity to visit places in the area. In this instance, it’s the majestic Augrabies falls, wine estates and so-on. It’s a serious cool spot to visit – and there are enough engineering shops and things in town in case you need something sorted…

The next leg of the journey takes participants on a 410KM journey through to Calvinia, which happens to have a big post box.

The following day, you’ll take a trip to the little town of Nieuwoudtville where there is an amazing collection of vehicles at the garage. If you get lucky, you are also spoiled with an astonishing display of flowers at that time of the year.

The highlight of the day is a visit to the open air seafood feast for lunch in Lamberts Bay and then, perhaps an afternoon siesta.

2000 kilometres in, the Franchhoek museum calls.

You might have heard about it – an impressive collection of amazing machines, and The Great Tour formed a part of the displays at the Franchhoek Car festival, both at the monument as well as at the motor museum. So not only do you get to travel those amazing roads, but you get to be a part of something that’s seriously cool. The museum fired up the Jodi Schecter Formula One car – and when that turned off, this lot fired up their classic… Vincents and drew an even bigger crowd! Super cool!

The balance of the day is spent soaking up the sheer beauty of the Cape.

In Franchhoek participants are treated to what Yuvi refers to as the India Stop. A great big pot of lamb curry was demolished. A small taste of Yuvi’s own Indian heritage on the tour.

The route back to the Big Smoke:

The coastal roads from Lamberts Bay are amazing but now the Great tour heads inland, headed via Strand, up Montague Pass for the famous Route 62. Places like Ronnie’s sex shop whizz past, a big straight road, to glorious Meiringspoort for a swim in the rockpool. It is magnificent, especially after a long day of travel. De Rust is the overnight where you can perhaps sample some home grown Ostrich steaks.

So far you’ve seen the mountains, mining land, seaside trails – and now it’s time to traverse the mighty Karoo…

Graaf Reinette calls for another rest day. Great Lamb. The Valley Of Desolation (Brakes are seriously recommended). If you don’t have brakes, the team arranges a shuttle to get you up and down again. Lots of cool little Bed And Breakfasts. A cool spot to explore.

Last year, The Great Trek to Bethulie was next on the cards – rumour has it that the original shop owner in that Dorp is the person who started South Africa’s diamond rush. He heard about the discovery and he hired a team to go prospecting. Very interesting. The hotel they stayed in is pretty unique with the walls covered in LP records. This year, the team is looking at perhaps changing the venue to Aliwal North because…

After such a long journey, the next leg took riders on a 450km stretch to the beautiful Clarens and the Golden Gate National Park. There is a shorter route, but it’s mostly gravel and you cannot take these beautiful old machines off the tar. But 450KM’s so far into the journey is a long way, so Yuvi and his team are considering options. Golden Gate is absolutely beautiful. The scenery is… well it’s Golden Gate and the roads are glorious.

Golden Gate is the end of the journey. The smallest, oldest bike that makes the journey under its own steam gets the prize.

The age of the participant also plays a role in that result.

It’s epic.

From there, participants have the option to take the journey back home to Heidelberg, take a holiday in the Clarens area or load the vehicles and head back for home.