- South Africa has a long and rich motorsport heritage, with dedicated classic car enthusiasts like Rodney Green keeping the cars and the spirit alive and flourishing
- Green has competed locally and internationally in a variety of sprint, endurance and hillclimb events. He has entered all 15 editions of the Simola Hillclimb, competing in legendary cars such as the 1929 Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix and 1957 Cooper Climax Formula 2
- He received the Spirit of Dave Charlton Award for Classic Car Friday in 2016, reflecting his professionalism and commitment to preserving, immaculately restoring and competing with iconic racing cars from the past
South Africa earned an extremely rich motorsport heritage throughout the past century. Fond memories still remain of legendary local and international races held at the original Prince George Grand Prix circuit in East London, Kyalami and Grand Central in Gauteng, Roy Hesketh in Pietermaritzburg and Killarney in Cape Town.
The biggest names in the sport competed in local events prior to and after the establishment of the Formula 1 championship in 1950, including grand prix stars such as Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Stirling Moss and John Surtees. Through different periods, they went head-to-head against a formidable line-up of local heroes including Jody and Ian Scheckter, Doug Serrurier, Dave Charlton, Paddy Driver, Basil van Rooyen, Tony Maggs – and many more.
Equally, these events featured an exceptional list of automotive and thoroughbred racing car manufacturers from around the world. They helped cement the iconic status of the likes of Maserati, Bugatti, MG, Austin, Riley, Cooper, Alfa Romeo, Lotus, BRM, Brabham and Tyrrell, through to the brands and teams that younger fans will be more familiar with, including the likes of McLaren, Ferrari and Williams.
It’s this nostalgia, pride and spirit that has contributed to South Africa being highly regarded around the world as a hub of classic road and racing car activity, and home to an exceptional range of significant machines of all eras. Fortunately, many of these important and valuable cars are regularly brought out, driven and raced instead of being rendered static museum pieces.
With 15 editions completed to date, the annual Simola Hillclimb in Knysna has solidly established itself as one of the world’s premier hillclimb events, and the ultimate motoring and motoring lifestyle event in South Africa. Enthusiasts will be hard pressed to find another event that delivers the variety and calibre of noteworthy cars – ranging from the pre-war machines of the 1920s and 1930s that put South Africa on the global automotive map, to some of the wildest and fastest modified cars in the world.
The Classic Car Friday line-up fascinates many people, young and old. It’s a pure delight seeing these fabulous machines – some of which are a century old – being driven with vigour up the tight and twisty 1.9 km Simola Hillclimb course, just as they were designed to be in their heyday.
A classic car stalwart
Rodney Green is a true stalwart of the Simola Hillclimb, having entered every edition held to date, although circumstances dictated that he unfortunately missed a couple of them. As a resident of White River in Mpumalanga, Green is renowned in the classic car community for his exceptional knowledge and experience in this field, collecting, repairing, restoring and racing an impressive range of significant machines – both locally and overseas.
He has fond memories of the inaugural Simola Hillclimb in 2009, and great insight into how it has grown. “The Simola Hillclimb started very informally, and the facilities were very rudimentary, with just a couple of huts on the side and no covered pits. But even then, it was well organised, and we were happy to be gathering and participating in this unique event,” Green says.
“I’ve been racing for more than 50 years, and the level of professionalism of the Simola Hillclimb has grown enormously,” Green adds, having competed in classic sprint and endurance races all over the country, as well as internationally at Le Mans, Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone, along with numerous hillclimbs – including the famous Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb in England. “The organisers have continuously evolved the Simola Hillclimb, starting with just one overall category in the beginning to creating separate events for Classic Car Friday and King of the Hill, and introducing new classes that accommodate a wider variety of cars and competitors. This evolution is essential to keep competitors coming back.”
Green competes under the Piri Piri Racing Team banner, representing a group of like-minded classic car enthusiasts that included Simola regulars Dave Alexander, Di Dugmore, Roger Lewis, Heyns Stead, Fred Phillips and Ron Hollis. “It started when Simola Hillclimb co-founder Ian Shrosbree originally floated the idea of this event with us. A group of us went to Mozambique and had a little bit too much to drink at the Piri Piri restaurant, and the Piri Piri name stuck,” he muses.
Keeping the legends alive
Over the years, Green has tackled the 1.9 km Simola Hillclimb with an impressive range of cars, including the immensely successful and rare 1929 Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix, a 1934 Riley Ulster Imp, and a more contemporary 1964 MGB.
“The best and quickest car I’ve driven at the Simola Hillclimb was my 2.0-litre 1952 Cooper Bristol Formula 2, which was the last of the front-engined single-seaters. I’m more comfortable with front-engined cars, so it suits my driving style, and it’s a beast to drive. I’ve also enjoyed competing on several occasions with the 1946 MG TC Spider, called ‘Fat Man’. Stuart Grant from Classic Car Africa drove it one year, and he did a time of 55 seconds, which is genuinely impressive,” Green says.
For this year’s landmark 15th edition of the Simola Hillclimb, Green switched to a rear-engined car in the form of a 1957 Cooper Climax Formula 2 that he meticulously restored over a period of almost 15 years. “This is a very special car that I’ve wanted to bring to the Simola Hillclimb for a long time. It’s sort of a transition car between the 2.5-litre and the later 1.5-litre era that started in Formula 1 in 1961, and raced in England and across Europe in mixed fields of 2.5 and 1.5-litre cars.”
According to Green, this Cooper Climax was subsequently contracted to Southern African drivers. Rhodesian Jimmy Shield rented the car for a year, then purchased it outright, and raced it in the 1960 South African Grand Prix in East London. “So many people have helped restore this car, which is completely original with the same chassis, engine, gearbox and aluminium body that it raced with in period.”
Relying on his extensive experience in historic circuit racing and hillclimbs, Green was a fervent advocate for introducing the handicap format for the oldest cars in Classic Car Friday. This was introduced in 2022 for the pre-war cars in class H1 and has enabled vastly different machines in terms of age, power and speed to compete against each other for the class title.
Characterised by his unbridled energy and dedication to preserving, restoring and driving so many historically important classic racing cars, it’s no surprise that Green was a recipient of the Spirit of Dave Charlton Award for Classic Car Friday in 2016. This special award is decided by the Simola Hillclimb organisers, and recognises the driver or team member who most reflects former South African Formula 1 driver Dave Charlton’s attention to detail and meticulous persistence, commendable performances and sportsmanship – and Rodney Green certainly ticks all of those boxes.
“I’m a middle-of-the-field racer, which is where I like to be, having fun,” he says. “I take each year as it comes, and enjoy my passion, which is old racing cars. I’m going to keep on going as long as I can, competing at the Simola Hillclimb and other events.”
The 16th edition of the Simola Hillclimb takes place from 30 April to 3 May 2026.