Calling all Classic Car owners: Head for the Durban Concours on Spring Sunday, September 7, 2025
Calling all Classic Car owners: Head for the Durban Concours on Spring Sunday, September 7, 2025
The call is out to classic car owners from all over South Africa to enter the 2025 L’Atelier Paris Concours d’Elegance Durban to be held in Umhlanga Rocks on September 7, 2025. This will be the fourth Durban Concours d'elegance, and organiser John Aritho says the idea is to make it a world-class occasion, capable of standing alongside the great concours in Europe, such as the Villa d’ Este concours held in Lake Como each May, and the famous Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance held in Monterey, California, every July.
“Last year in 2024 I believe the dream I had of creating an event worthy of showcasing Durban to the world-at-large came to fruition, as we had entrants from both Johannesburg and the Free State to complement the huge enthusiasm for classic cars that exists in the KwaZulu-Natal area”
says Aritho.
“This year we are casting our classic car net to all parts of South Africa, and we plan to attract classics from all the major centres, including Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Cape Town and towns and cities in the Western and Eastern Cape province, such as Knysna, Plettenberg Bay and Port Elizabeth.”
Big news for Johannesburg classic enthusiasts this year is that Stuart Grant, well known as the Editor of Classic Car Africa, has planned a special route to Durban that will take in some of the finest classic-car-orientated roads in the country. The route will take in Standerton, Volksrust, Ladysmith, Newcastle, and Winterton where the Jo’burg contingent will overnight. Then it will be on to and Mooi River, all small towns that are vivid in many classic owners’ memories, as this was the old pre-highway alternative route from Johannesburg to the Kwazulu Natal coast in the 1960s and 1970s.
From Mooi River the Jo’burg classic car contingent will criss-cross over the N3 highway and take in the wonderfully scenic delights of the Rosetta, Nottingham Road and Balgowan area, then at the Midmar Dam travel on to Howick, Hilton and Pietermaritzburg, onto the old Comrades Marathon route through Cato Ridge, Inchanga and skirting the Valley of a Thousand Hills before hopping onto the N3 again and on to Umhlanga Rocks. The entire run will take place over two days of gentle cruising, befitting of machinery that was designed for a bygone era.
“This route forms part of the famous DJ Motorcycle commemorative run"
says Grant,
“and takes in some of the best classic-car-friendly roads in the country, where Durban Concours entrants can enjoy their machines to the fullest. Classic cars are not about speed, they are all about meandering, which appropriately is the name given to the KZN Midlands part of our route. The overnight stop at Winterton will be a special treat.”
Stuart Grant is also this year’s chief judge for the Concours component of the event.
The Grant family from Johannesburg played a big role in making last year’s L’Atelier Paris Concours Durban such a memorable event, and Stuart’s father Alan was delighted to take second place in the competition with his beautifully-original 1958 Triumph TR3. Alan was more than content to finish runner-up to the winner of the 2024 concours at Umhlanga, John Hatfield in his achingly elegant 1968 Lancia Flavia.
“Although everyone refers to competitions such as ours as a Concours”
says John Aritho,
“the full term for such an event is actually a Concours d’ Elegance, that is why it was so appropriate that John Hatfield’s Lancia Flavia was the overall 2024 winner, because nothing symbolises automotive elegance like a Lancia!”
The elegance aspect of the event will be perfectly showcased by the serene setting at the Chris Saunders Park in down-town Umhlanga, with its lush lawns and water fountains complementing the genteel spirit that pervades all quality classic car gatherings. In 2024 the entry comprised some delightful machines that harkened back to the dawn of the styling era in the motorcar’s history, such as the 1938 Mercedes-Benz 170.
Adding even more grace to the occasion will once again be a bevy of fashion models, displaying haute couture that will take in both the latest trends and outfits where elegance – there’s that word again – was pre-eminent in the designers’ minds.
“Last year everything that I imagined about a world class event to showcase the natural beauty of the Durban area came together in embryo form. This year the aim is to once again assist in making Durban the premier recreational centre in the country, and reinforce all its wonderful assets – warm weather all year round, warm beaches and no cold ocean currents spoiling the party. And to top it all, this year’s event is scheduled for September 7 – the first Sunday of Spring!”
Aritho is encouraging classic car enthusiasts from other centres to get their entries in early, because space is limited. Those owners who are not keen on exposing their cars to the demanding rigours of concours judging can also enter their cars as display-only vehicles, to be admired by all who will attend this exciting sensory experience.
