Pix from South Africa

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Chuck was pressed for time, but he e-mailed these photos while waiting for a boat(?). The captions are his.



Two photos of the Minis that were supposed to make the trip. The license plate numbers are backwards, unfortunately. SA DOL issue to get them changed. Brown car is one of the last (therefore, 69) Wolseley 1000s and the white is a 68.


The "hooter" (horn) photo is from the 50th. I took hundreds and can't sort it down easily to just a few and there was no way to get any photos of all the cars. Just over 450 total with well over 350 real Minis. Lots of South Africa-specific cars not made anywhere else. Very interesting.


The overgrown hamster wearing the stupid expression is a Dassie, or rock rabbit. No relation to rabbits or hamsters. Believe it or not, they are the closest living relation to elephants! (A fact that elephants deny.)

Continued...

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A forced smile (and a mug shot) at the Wolseley sign. There should have been two Wolseley 1000s there, too.


With Ralph Clark, the former plant manager at Blackheath where all the Minis were built, along with many other "British" cars. We're discussing his Austin Ant...one of six of the prototypes built that are still known to exist.



Post drive. He took me out for a ride, which was a great thrill and a privilege, and then let me drive! Weird vehicle and not particularly easy to drive. He told me that I was only the 2nd person to drive the vehicle in over 25 years. (Way to go, Ralph! Don't put on the pressure or anything.)

Continued

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Cape Augulhas is the farthest-south point in S.A. To go any farther south one must get wet. Place where the Atlantic and Indian meet.

Dan

[DaveB]

chuck,
what's the story on the ant? only 6 prototypes ever built? bring back some stories, or literature if you can. looks like it's been an amazing trip.

[Cheleker]

Limited web access.
Number not known but about 32 prototypes built . Two went to SA. Only 6 known to exist world wide.
Film at 11:00...or in a couple of weeks when I'm back in
Seattle.
May be able to get more photos to Dan early next week.

[BIGSHOT]

Here's the last batch of Chuck's SA photos. Again, the captions are his.


Zwartkops Race Track during the South African 50th celebration. The upper line is the "special" cars queuing for an honorary lap. They are good examples of almost every model Mini built in South Africa. The rest of the cars is the start of an attempt to get the most cars of one kind on a South African race track.


Two Mk I 1071 Cooper Ss. All the normal factory Mk I Cooper S cars built in South Africa were this white over green with gold wheels. If you worked at it and paid the extra money, you could get one in a different color, but white over green was standard.


The South African Mk I Cooper S came with these bucket seats as standard...and in that color scheme.

Below, South African Mk3. About 5000 made and only in South Africa. Mk 3 is the correct name for the car (not Mk III). The name was used on only two Mini models. One was this South African model. What's the other one? (This should be an easy question for a couple of our club members.)

English Mk II Austin front end with Elf/Hornet bumper. Reflectors between the headlights and parking lights were a South African requirement of the time.

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Proper, and very hard to find, Mk3 boot badge.


Rear identical to the English Elf/Hornet, except for the Mini and Mk3 badges. Note that the car used the English style Mk III doors. The South Africans used the Australia rollups for a few years, but reverted to the English style with the introduction of the Mk3.


Cap Agulhas. This is as far south as one can get in Africa...on land. The next land south is covered in ice.


At Hluhluwe we ran across an African relative of Jerry Miller's friends. He said to say, "Hi, snort." (Note: my camera does not shoot close ups. That's just how close this guy was...and he wasn't happy.)

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At Addo Elephant Park. This guy looked big even from a MINI and just wasn't happy that I was where he wanted to be. I took this photo and happened to glance in my mirror and saw an even bigger one coming up on the driver's side of the car. He wasn't happy, either. I rolled the window up.


Kruger Park. Close elephant


Kruger Park. Way TOO close elephant. I moved right on down the road as soon as this was snapped.


Kruger Park. Giraffes are not the smartest animals, but this one is out standing in his field.

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St. Lucia. Close Hippos.


St. Lucia. TOO close hippo.


St. Lucia. Close Rhino.


St. Lucia. TOO close rhino.

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Far NE South Africa. Crooks Corner


Tree escapee from Middle Earth.

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To all those around the Seattle area fighting ant or termite problems, here's what their South African relatives think...a home-built middle-finger salute.


Not a sign one sees very often.


Over 7000 kms traveled. Only 120 to go and a pothole destroyed a run flat tire and a 17" rim.

Thanks for the look at the images, Chuck.

Dan

[Cheleker]

Dan, Thanks for the postings.