Thousands of petrolheads and history fans alike flocked to the East London Grand Prix circuit on Sunday for a look at 1930s vintage racing cars.
For Valda Munro (Medefindt), 93, the spectacular show of history was nothing new, but still just as exciting.
Having attended every Grand Prix from 1934-1939 as a young girl with her father, who sold programmes at the pre-war racing events, Munro relived those childhood memories at the Grand Prix Exhibition Race and Festival this weekend.
Between Riley, Bugatti, ERA, Aston Martin, Maserati, MG, and other racing classics, 24 vintage cars were displayed in all their glory, 13 of which raced at the exact same spot some 80-odd years ago.
“I’m thrilled to be back here and see these cars. I loved it so much when I was younger.
“The excitement of it all was wonderful, I always wished I was driving the damn things,” said a lively Munro.
She recalls having sat in the cockpit of Whitney Straight’s winning Maserati in 1934 when she was just nine years old. “I can’t swear to the colours, but I remember the cars just like this,” said Munro, admiring the blue Maserati which won the 1934 race, the first Grand Prix out of Europe and the first in SA. “I just remember standing next to the car and someone asking if I wanted to know what it felt like to sit in it and then I was picked up and put into the car.”
Having spent much of her childhood at the circuit, Munro also remembers getting a ride in local racer Buller Meyer’s Riley at the 1938 Grand Prix and the roars of the Auto Union racing cars in 1937...