The first generation
South Africa was not a wealthy society in 1955 but there were countries worse off than us and many immigrants came to our shores for a better life.
One of them was a man from the Island of Madeira in the North Atlantic Ocean. This man was to become my father-in-law and his son would become the first guy to build a Hot Rod in South Africa. His name is Peter Jardine. Peter was born in Bedfordview and when he turned 22 he went on a trip to London.
What he found there had a profound effect on him and changed many of our lives for ever.
Does traveling broaden the mind…you bet!!
1955 — The First Generation
The pioneers of South African hot rodding.
Peter Jardine · Erik Brockelbank · Derek Smith · Clive Brooker · Danny Searl · Cedric Pearce · Colin Brockelbank
1960 — The Second Generation
Building on the foundations laid by the originals.
Ed Jardine · Dave Herbst · Rassie Labuschagne · Errol du Plessis · Hans Primmage · Bob Baker · Johnny van Schalkwijk
1965 — The Third Generation
A new wave pushing the movement forward.
Dave Corbett · Harry Corbett
If you can add to the third generation, we would like to hear from you.
Here is Peter Jardines’ story in his own words:
I grew up on a small farm in Bedfordview and in 1954 at the age of 22, I went to London and spent 4 months hitchhiking around Europe then I returned to London to find work. One evening we went to see a movie about teenagers in Los Angeles. This was at the time that Rock and Roll made its mark on the music scene along with Hot Rods and fashion. In the movie I saw Hot Rods for the first time in my life and made up my mind to build one myself. The next day I scanned the bookshops for all the Hot Rod magazines I could find and bought them to take home with me.
1955, back in RSA, I bought a Dodge coupe (there were lots of Roadster and coupe cars around those days).
My pals, Erik Brockelbank and Clive Brooker (Soutie Brooker of Hell driver fame, Wembly Stadium Jhb) and the rest of the Bedfordview gang, were into stockcar racing and talked me into stockcar racing for Buddy Fuller at Wembly. I had a few rides there and then gave it up.
1955, August I bought a 5 window 1933 Ford coupe in good condition, chopped out the floor with a cold chisel and hammer, lowered the suspension, longer shackles, fitted telescopic shocks with anti sway bars, my dad thought I had gone mad. I got hold of a 1939 Mercury flathead V8 engine, Packard gearbox +39 Mercury differential, lowered the body over the chassis and then fitted a sectioned 1933 Ford grill into position.
We got all our information on construction, adaptor plates, “hearst” shift gearlevers and so on from the Hot Rod magazines.
Erik Brockelbank and Clive (Soutie) Brooker became interested and Erik started building a 1932 Ford Roadster and Clive, a 1934 Ford coupe. These little cars were FAST and we dropped anything and everything that tried to race against us What fun we had…woooom and we were gone.
Our exhaust headers were made for us by a guy in TBV called the "Constable" AND HE WAS SO GOOD. We used to take bits of "bloudraad" to make a profile of more or less how we wanted our headers shaped to fit the exhaust manifolds. He must have been a magician because he made them just perfect. We welded the pipes onto the mounting flanges ourselves and also made our own silencer boxes to get a nice V8 sound.
All our cars were painted by Cecil Jackson who was a pro magician part time. He knew how to paint brush finish style and he did a great job. Cecil lived in Edenvale at the time.
When the time came to start up my Rod, all my friends and family were there to see this great event. When the engine roared into life, we all listened to that wonderful V8 sound
I managed to find an Offenhauser manifold and a set of heads with two carbs somewhere and the first Hot Rod in South Africa was born in Bedfordview, right there in our backyard.
Soon the Hot Rod craze caught on and in two years, we had a few cars in Bedfordview. These cars were our day-to-day transport and became the cars we used on our first trip to Durban. When our Hot Rod gang got to Durban, we caused a sensation on arrival. We stopped at the XL Café, for those of you who will remember it, right at the beach front and we were immediately surrounded by a crowd of people. One guy asked if we were from Bedfordview and when we asked him how he knew he said: "Everybody knows about your fast Street Rods from "the view" near Jhb. We had a great time and made many "friends".
By then, there were quite a few Rods being built in TBV. Danny Searl, Cedric Pearce, Erik Brockelbank and myself were sitting in our Rods one afternoon watching skid kids, when a guy came over and said: "I’ve got one of these". We went to have a look at his 1933 Ford 3 window under construction and he became a lifelong pal of mine, along with Bob Baker, who also built a Chevy coupe.
Not long after I built my car, my brother Ed Jardine and my brother-in-law Dave Herbst, also built two beautiful Hot Rods. Erik and I were cruising near Kempton Park one day, when we spied a 1929 Roadster body that someone had dumped in the veldt. Yes, we took it home and I built my 1929 Roadster.
With lots of parts, I completed the car for about R200.00. I raced this car at Krugersdorp Hill Climb events, where I won the J CLASS. I later sold the Roadster to Clive Brooker, who then stuck a Buick V8 into it and it went like hell. That was somewhere between 1955 and 1956.
I am 79 years old today and Danny Searl, Clive Brooker, Johny van Schalkwijk and Frank Rundle have all passed on. Erik Brockelbank lives in Australia.
THIS WAS A WONDERFUL TIME OF OUR LIVES. ENJOY THE PHOTOGRAPHS....PETER JARDINE.
Don’t miss Part 2 of the history of Hot Rods in South Africa.
