Droëwors Madness! A Gallery of Classic South African Car Ads

1972 Chevrolet Komando, South African Car Ads — 1972 Chevrolet Kommando

It’s sort of like a strange dream. Everything feels familiar, but somehow changed, in strange and wonderful ways. That’s how I feel whenever I revisit the cars of Australia, and also the vehicles of South Africa.

I draw the Australia/South Africa comparison for two reasons: First, automakers in both countries were keen to sell market-exclusive models, and, second, because both of these markets seem too a little too small to have enjoyed so much unique automotive history.

For the record, about 500,000 cars are sold annually in South Africa–considerably fewer than the 900,000 or so retailed in Australia every year. Still, South Africa drew the interest of most major automakers, and remains to this day a production hub for cars and trucks.

Perusing the ads below, I took note of the following:

Mitsubishi, for a while, did business in South Africa using the Sigma brand
A company called Basil Green Motors not only distributed Ford vehicles in South Africa, but also modified them, in a manner similar to Roush Performance in the U.S.
Toyota once built and distributed American Motors vehicles in South Africa using the Rambler brand
General Motors sold cars in South Africa using the Ranger Brand (The briefly popped up in a few European markets as well)
The term “six cylinder” was once used in South Africa to describe an entire class of “intermediate” cars

Check out the ads below and tell us what you find interesting. The place to leave comments is down below.

Droëwors?