BUICK 10 YEAR CELEBRATION

V V C Club – JOHANNESBURG

26 September 2010

This is a BIG thank you to all who attended and supported this event. 

Hierdie skrywe is om BAIE dankie te sê vir almal  wat die byeenkoms ondersteun en bygewoon het.

The special 10 year Celebration event of the Buick Club of South Africa has come and gone. It was unique in so many ways and will for all of us on the Committee stand out as a milestone in our Club’s history. So many things worked so well for us – the weather, a glorious spring day, - the venue in a shady park next to the VVC Club House with excellent amenities; the friendly and welcoming V V C  members;  the magnificent Buicks and of course the first combined outing with our Cadillac Chapter members. But two other important things made it the success that it was – the effort you and your family made to attend and the wonderful Buick’s and Cadillac’s you showed and shared with all who came along.

We have never had such an array of rare, pristine and wonderful Buicks at an event since the inception of the Club. We all have our own personal highlights. Certainly  significant were the four top of range , very rare in South Africa, Buick Roadmaster's – Daan Marais’s 1938, Dean Simon’s immaculate  and rarely seen 1949 convertible, Jogee’s wonderful 1952 Riviera Hardtop Coupe and Nola and Jayson Fox’s equally rare and rarely seen magnificent  1957 convertible. These top of the range Buicks are all signature, one of a kind, cars in South Africa. Equally rare, one of a kind Buicks on show were Brian Noik’s 1913, Brian Hart’s 1927, Alex Duffey’s 1930 Dual Cowl Phaeton, Peter Swan’s 1931 - 4d sedan, Eric McQuillian’s 1935 - 4d sedan, Abe Zeilinga’s 1937 model  46S coupe, Justus de Waal’s 1942 Super sedan, Francois en Trudie Du Toit’s se pragtige 1949 Super 4d sedan , Bulla Smith se pragtige 1949 Super Sedanette. And then the other great Buicks – Gerrie van Wyk’s (Mr Buick) 1948 Super convertible and 1948 Special, Ian Holmes’s 1948 Super, Johan en Elsa Griesel’s  “skitterende” 1956 Special, Massimo Lupini’s 1958 Special, Jan Pansegrouw’s  1959 Le Sabre, 4 wonderful Riviera’s  - owned by George Shipway (1966), Theo Janse van Rensburg (1968), Chris Palk (1970) and Daan Marais (1971), Iain Purseys’1969 4d Hardtop Skylark, Andre Janse van Rensburg’s 1984 Le Sabre Coupe , Jan Burger's beautiful, stately 1929? and Fred Scheeper's 1959? GMC Ldv.

The Cadillac’s were equally impressive – Ty Terblanche’s unique, beautifully restored and fully operational 1904 Cadillac trailered in all the way from Pietermaritzburg (550kms) - (what a great gesture Ty and much appreciated by all of us), and then the other magnificent Cadillac’s -  George Shipway’s 1966 Eldorado, Rudolph Nicholson’s 1970 de Ville, a 1979 Eldorado, a 1995 Brougham and and an impressive 1973 Coupe de Ville

Eerste om aan te kom was Francois en Trudie Du Toit al die pad van Potgietersus in hul pragtige 1949 Super and dan al die pad (250kms) van Vrede in die Vrystaat, Bulla Smith in sy pragtige 1949 Sedanette. Ons sè ‘n spesiale dankie aan Francois an Bulla en die moeite wat hulle gedoen het om hulle pragtige 1949 Buicks van vêr  af te bring en met ons te deel en die ander motor entoesaste wat  hierdie unieke motors kon sien. En daarna was elke  aankoms van ‘n Buick of Cadillac ‘n wonderlike gebeutenis.

Many of our members whose cars were either being restored or out of action also attended – Roland Harington and John Smith from Cape Town, Rodney and Jos Norton, Ron Jaikuran, Mike Lecatsas and many others from local Clubs in the area. Thank you for your support.

Net na 11h00 was die bekendstelling van ons 10 jaar herdenkingspublikaise en die baie interesante Buick Flinkdink ontwerp en gereël  deur Alex Duffey. 

The Buick quiz in the VVC Clubhouse after tea, with great overhead projected photo’s, was a great success with team A winning by a narrow margin. A lot of time and effort went into creating the quiz and we are very grateful to Alex for providing this interesting, fun event. The Quiz was preceded by Alex and Chris handing out beautifully prepared certificates to all who had served on the committee of the Buick Club during the past 10 years. A highlight was the unveiling of a trophy sculpted by Alex to be presented annually by the committee to a deserving member. The trophy features a 1953 Buick Skylark convertible. Alex was heartily thanked by all present not only for his contribution and time devoted to the 10 year anniversary celebration but also for his efforts since the inception of the Club in acting as editor of the Buick Nut and generally building the club, with the sterling help and assistance of the committee members, into the vibrant organisation it is today. Baie, baie dankie Alex!

All present  then enjoyed the bring and braai, great fellowship and a last look at the wonderful cars on show. Sadly at 15h00 we started packing up and said our farewells. Some like Ty and Francois stayed the night in Johannesburg and Pretoria . Others like Bulla “hit the road” ( 250kms to Vrede) in their Buicks and Cadillac’s.

To sum up - a great day in the history of the Club!  My personal regret is not having spent more time chatting to our fellow Buick and Cadillac owners and friends and having more time to “kuier”. The day was just too short.

We look forward to the next 10 years and many years of fellowship and of course enjoyment of our wonderful cars.

Chris Palk

Buick Club of SA

Vice Chairman