Cape Town celebration

From the Weekend Argus we learn that the 50th Anniversary of Cape Town’s first international Grand Prix was celebrated recently.

In 1937, the Grosvenor GP was run over a circuit on land bought in Tokai by a Mr Edwards, Chairman of Grosvenor House in London, when it seemed Cape Town would become a tourist playground. A 203-mile handicap, it was won by von Delius’ Auto-Union at 80.37 mph, from Rosemeyer’s Auto-Union — probably the only time such cars ran on handicap. Earl Howe’s ERA was 3rd.

Rohr and van Reit, who competed in the original race, were present at the 1987 commemoration, as were two of the cars which ran then, a C-type Montlhery MG and the ex-Doreen Evans R-type MG. The restorer of the latter, Ralph Clarke, drove to the circuit with a postbag of letters specially date-stamped at the Tokai Post Office.

Today, Pollsmoor Prison occupies much of the old Grosvenor Park, but the Prisons Service permitted the reunion to be held on the remains of the narrow 7.2km circuit, where Cortese’s Maserati won the last such race in 1939. WB