y philosophy is to find cars that are in
no need of restoration, meaning cars
that the first owner eagerly maintained
for a number of decades that I can then
continue doing the same.’
If there is a criticism to be levelled
at Gerhard Ryksen’s Volkswagen
collection, it’s that his location – in the
middle of South Africa’s Free State – is
so far away from the coast... surely all
Kombis should have surfboardsonthe
roof and be parked next tothebeach?
Given that Gerhard had this
pristine structure purpose-built to house his personalhomage to
Wolfsburg product, I can forgive this geographical shortcoming.
The building also houses his office and a small entertainment
area. Next door there’s a restoration facility along with a covered
area that stores projects and some hard-to-find parts he might
consider selling... at the right price, of course. ‘I do have a few
vehicles that I have restored, but these are usually cars of which
I’m confident I won’t be able to find a well looked-after example.
Originality is an important part of collecting for me.’
Gerhard bought his first Beetle at age 16, fixed it up and sold it
for a small profit. He then got another one and so his interest in
Volkswagens grew, and soon his collection did too. ‘My previous
jobs kept me deskbound, so I felt I needed to do something
creative with my hands other than moving documents around!’
Gerhard’s a walking encyclopaedia on VW specifications and
details, a seed sewn early on. ‘When I was a month old, my father
realised we needed a larger car and bought a 411 station wagon. I
grew up with the Variant and we had one until I left school.’
Gerhard’s oldest car is a 1952 Beetle that he bought from a
friend; it’s currently undergoing restoration. ‘I decided to store it
until I had the correct setup and equipment required to restore it.
It is not the type of car you send off for someone else to work on.
Some cars need expert and thorough attention, and this is one of
them,’ says Gerhard as he steers me to the bulk of the collection.
1976 Volkswagen SP2
More than 15 Beetles are parked against one side of the main
building, including sought-after Karmann Cabriolets; on the
opposite side is an assortment of Kombis. But my eye catches the
real treasure of the collection – a Brazilian-built Volkswagen SP2.
It’s believed to be one ofonlythreeinthecountryandtheonly
one officially importedthrough VolkswagenSouth Africa. Like
many of Gerhard’s rarities,it didn’t simplyfallintohislap.
‘These cars were produced inBrazil andonly around11, 000
were manufactured. Thisistheonlyoneinthecountrythat’son
the road and running. Ithas 27 ,000milesontheodoandI’monly
its second owner. It tookmea numberofyearsto acquire thecar
fr om the previous owner.It stoodfora decadeinthebasement
parking area of a bank intheuniversitytownofStellenbosch.
‘When the owner toldmethat hewaswillingto sellmethecar,
I immediatelyboarded theoverlandbuswithjumpercablesanda
smalltoolkit.I arrived tofindthecarcoveredwitha thicklayerof
dust,buteventually I managedtostartit.I tookit toa carwash,
then drove 250 miles to thecoastaltownof Mossel Bay. Along
thewayI hadto replacea smallbrake line,butfromMosselBayI
continued a further 500 miles north to Bloemfontein without
incident. I’ve had it for 14yearsnow,during whichtimeit hasdone
just 1900 miles. I keep it originalandlookafterit asbestasI can.’1978 Volkswagen BeetleSP1 600
We move on to a 1978 exampleoftheVolkswagenBeetleSP1600,
only built in South Africa.Thiswasa specialeditionversionthat
was for sale towards theendoftheBeetle’sproductionlife,similar
to what Volkswagen SouthAfricadidwiththeMkIGolf,calledthe
Citi Golf in South Africaandproducedthere inlargenumbersuntil- Naturally, Gerhardownsoneofthosetoo.
The SP1600’s 1.6-litreenginefeaturedtwinSolexdowndraught
carburettors, raising powerto 58bhp. TheSPalsofeatureddouble
exhausts, chequered clothandvinylseats,a frontbumperscoop,
14-inch wheels, spotlightsanda sportsteeringwheel,aswellas
additional dials indicatingoilpressureandbatteryvoltage.There
were also no chrome trimmings– everythingwasblack.
‘In the end it was more about the looks, because it wasn’t
much faster than the non-SP models. I found it right herein
Bloemfontein and it hasonly42, 000 miles– theseatsandtherest
of the interior are all original.Therewereotherlimitededition
models like the Fun Bug,theJeansBugandtheLux...allthesejust
a marketing effort to sella fewmore carstowardstheend!’
1974 Jurgens Autovilla 1800
‘This is a working museum,’Gerhardemphasises.‘Icanclimbin
any of the cars and turnthekey.I canconfidentlytake70%of
them for a long trip on theopenroad.’Thehangar-stylepremises was purpose-
built to house Gerhard’s collection while
also providing workshop and office space