Memorial service, Bob Olthoff, Cape Town

[Andre40]

On satuday morning I attended a memorial for Bob Olthoff in Cape Town. Many of his old racing buddies, most of them balder, greyer and with extended waist lines were also there. Sadly Tony Maggs his co-driver of days gone by couldn't attend as he had picked up a chest infection that required hospital treatment.

One of Bob's oldest friends makes 1/32 and 1/28 scale model car resin cast bodies. He has 183 moulds in stock and each and every master was carved out of wood. He displayed three cars on top of the casket containing Bob's ashes and one in front of it. The three cars were a McLaren-Elva-Ford, a Ford Galaxie and a Cobra all in the red and white Willment colours and cars in which Bob thrilled the crowds with his spirited driving in particular the massive seven litre Galaxie. The car in front is a model of the Lola MK6 that Tony Maggs drove for the first time at Silverstone in mid-1963 and that he shared with Bob two weeks later at the Nurburging 1000 km race. Their autographs are on the roof of the model. I did an earlier post regarding their hair raising drive at the 'Ring.

Under Rob Beddington's post BOB OLTHOFF I attached Bob's story from his chapter in my book on the history of the Kyalami circuit. He certainly had a chequered career which included landing his Tiger Moth on the roof a Volkswagen 411 Variant but the less said about that the better!

Enjoy life while you can!
Andre 40

[Andre40]

Here are some of David Piper's cars in 1/32 and 1/28 scale -Ferrari 250GTO, 275LM, P2, P4, Dino and Porsche 917 and Ford F3L. David's autograph is on the roofs of some models.

The kits consist of bodies, interiors and glass in plastic only and price is $15 ex-works Cape Town.

[Andre40]

Lotus 30, Lola T70, Porsche 908, Ferrari P4 Can-Am,GSM Flamingo, GSM Dart, Jaguar D-Type (OKV 3).

[Andre40]

2001 Bentley and 2003 Le Mans winning Bentley

[Andre40]

The Gunston sponsored Ford Capri Perana V8 that Bob raced in South Africa.

[Andre40]

The South African Kreepy Krauly (swimming pool cleaner) sponsored March-Porsche 83G that caused a bit of an upset when it was driven to victory in the 1983 Daytona 24 Hour by the South African drivers Graham Duxbury, Tony Martin and Sarel van der Merwe.

I spoke to Tony yesterday and he has just started building the original Chevron B1, Lotus Seven look alike, for Chevron in the UK.It's powered by the Ford of South Africa built Rocam engine which pushes out 120 bhp. It's single OHC eight valve engine that powers the local Ford Fiestas and the Bantam pick up version.

[Andre40]

The Willment version of the Daytona Coupe and the Daytona Coupe