Detour Pit Stop #76: Wijnlands Auto Museum, South Africa
Photo Sudhir Matai
Most people just see a scrapyard, but the Wijnlands Auto Museum on the way out of Cape Town holds some real treasures.
I’d heard about Wijnlands from a few folks, who specifically warned me about its owner. “He’s a fussy old b*****d,” they said. Cautioned, but undeterred, I set off for this smallholding in the farmlands heading out of Cape Town.
The first job is to locate the entrance and, just as I fear I’m lost, I see a pair of 1960’s Americana planted nose first, Cadillac Ranch-style into the ground. Yep, this is it. Walking from the gate to the main building of the Wijnlands Auto Museum I notice a wide variety of machinery from all eras and corners of the world, most of which are being consumed by the dreaded ‘tin worm’. Mercedes-Benz coupés and VW buses, American muscle cars and pick-ups litter the unkempt yard.
At the reception area I’m greeted by owner Les Boshoff who glances at his watch and comments: “You’re early, excellent.” Oom (Afrikaans for uncle) Les is nearly 90, but you’d not guess from his spritely demeanour and sharp memory.
We sit down in Les’ dark office to learn more about the collection he’s assembled and I enquire how it all began? “First and foremost I am a car enthusiast. If I had to pin it down, it probably started with my dad. He used to own a full service garage in our home town in the 1940s, that’s where my love of the motor car was formed.”
“I retired from the real estate business when I was 55. I then decided I wanted to indulge my hobby by restoring old cars. The first car I bought to restore was a 1930s Hudson Terraplane,” Boshoff motions towards a shed nearby. Thirty years later it still sits untouched.
A rough estimate puts the number of vehicles on the property at 350, with less than 75 in any usable form. I later learn that Les buys vehicles and parts, but he never sells them. “A lot of the stock here is quite valuable and once you sell it, it’s gone and to replace will cost a lot of money.”
Of course there are cars that are definitely worth the effort, such as a recently refurbished Jaguar XK120. His eyes light up when asked about it, “I am only the car’s third owner,” he says proudly. “It belonged to a colleague of my dad who was quite sentimental about it and wouldn’t part with the car, but when he passed away there was a clause in his will which gave me the first option to buy it from his estate. I have owned it for 50 years.”
Another British icon sits close to his heart: a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II. “I fell in love with it the moment I saw it on the showroom floor and knew I had to have it. That was in 1963 and I have owned it since new.” The Rolls is a fully documented car, which includes the original forms when it left the factory.
“We prepare lots of cars for the advertising and movie industry. If someone sees a car they like here we can have it ready for shooting in a few weeks, if that is what they want. Most times these companies want the cars as you see them. Many of our cars have been in feature films and television adverts.”
If you ever find yourself in the area and want to take a walk down memory lane, the Wijnlands Auto Museum is definitely worth a look in. Take a camera, there’s loads of interesting stuff to shoot and if you have a meeting with Oom Les don’t be late.
Words and Photography Sudhir “Banzai” Matai Twitter | Instagram
