Classic Driving in a Motor Classic on the Cape Point Route....

“…she realized she’d never ride through Paris in a sports car with the warm wind in her hair” crooned Marianne Faithfull in 1979 in the Ballad of Lucy Jordan. The song has come to exemplify a romantic escape from the mundane chores of domestic life. But let’s be honest there aren’t many of us who will drive through Paris in a sports car!

Fortunately an open top, long nosed sporty convertible is infinitely more attainable than a dream and give me the Cape Point Route rather than Paris anyday. I am a fan of a good coastal cruise and losing oneself in the scale and enormity of nature. Beats Parisian traffic jams if you ask me. A good coastal drive should involve some hairpin bends hugging dramatic cliffs, waves crashing on jagged rocks below and preferably a narrow road with an exhilarating edge between land and sea. But for any truly great coastal journey one must not overlook the importance of the right car and the right companion! A great convertible and a great passenger are two crucial ingredients for a great coastal smorgasbord.

The convertible for driving yourself round the Cape Point Route can be obtained from Motor Classics in Waterloo Street, Cape Town. Motor Classics is an automobile paradise with a stage of classic cars. Beautiful Bentleys, Royal Rolls; zippy Alfa Spiders, vintage Crossley, a TVR Chimaera convertible, Austin Healeys, Mercedes and Range Rovers grace the showroom and all are available for hire. But the 1970 E-type Jaguar 4,2 roadster in racy red was just too irresistible for me.

The unique long bonnet, the unforgettable sound, the curvaceous elegant lines are enough to turn a non-car lovers head in wonderment. It’s no surprise that the UK’s Daily Telegraph ranked the Jaguar E-type first in its March 2008 list of “100 most beautiful cars of all time”. Like great art, a classic car escapes the design influences of trendy fashion and is judged on pure merit. In addition to seriously good looks, the engine purrs, the car hugs the road and the drive is a meeting place of highway and heaven.

As frequently as heads turn to look at you in your sports car, your head will be turned in equal wonderment with the landscape unfolding around you. The Cape Point Route spans two coastlines wrapped around a national park. With Hout Bay and Muizenberg as it’s “gateways”, the Cape Point Route hugs the coastline almost the entire way – enjoying the charming personalities of the towns that cling to it’s slopes. On the False Bay side there is a touristy buzz and plenty of history with old stone buildings, quaint homes and quirky shops overlooking beaches and tidal pools. The Atlantic side is wilder, with the mountain almost tripping over the serpentine coast down to the sea.

For more info on the Cape Point Route, call us on 021 782 9356 or visit our website www.capepointroute.co.za