[Jaggu]

Read our report on Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV Tyres, Track Day, Jungle Safari, Diamond Mine & more at this link.

This is a super select collection of vehicles by a South African individual who is very private in nature and likes to keep himself off the limelight. The collection hence is more famously known as "The Motul Museum / Collection".

There are over 200 vehicles here in this secret location spread over two parking floors inside a private residential property in the middle of Johannesburg. It was late when we arrived here, and it was a very posh locality with large villas + heavy security arrangements.

Some unique facts about this rather unique collection:

- The collection is not restricted to one brand or one class of vehicle. You can see vehicles across manufacturers and some of these have the whole series of the particular model!!
- Almost 99% of it is in running condition and regularly taken out, some of them even used on tracks to stretch their legs.
- Every weekend, the team that takes care of the vehicles lines up 4 or 5 vehicles in front, which the owner uses and parks after marking anything that needs to be done on the vehicle.
- All are lovingly maintained by a passionate technical manager and his team.
- Most of them are low mileage ones.
- Very few needed restorations and were bought as it is.
- Very rarely, some of them are put up on auctions.
- First one the gentlemen bought and restored when he was 18 years or so was a VW Beetle, but unfortunately it was sold, like many of the earlier ones he had.
- Most prized one is a Jaguar E type in pristine condition and is quite priceless I believe.
- There are a few bikes also.
- He has another larger collection elsewhere in SA, where he has collected almost all the cars sold once in this country!

I will let the pictures do the talking. Video was a strict no-no and only pictures were allowed.

A huge shoutout to fellow moderators Ajmat, Moralfibre & Suhaas307 for tagging the cars for me. Ajmat - being an encyclopedia - was munching on this like Pacman!

Red car is the Porsche 968 Cup - a lightweight version of the Porsche 944 in its last iteration:


Left to Right- Lamborghini Espada - one of the most beautiful Lambos ever produced (many have rusted away), Lamborghini Jalpa - very rare - (one is in Delhi at the Lalit hotel) and the Lamborghini Urraco:


Left to Right - E30 Alpina B3- fastest RHD E30 as the M3 was LHD only, E34 Alpina B5 and the BMW 8 Series:


Left to Right – Maserati, VW-Porsche 914- Built by VW for Porsche (early forerunner to the Boxster) - very rare car:


Left to Right - BMW Z3M Coupe and E30 Alpina B3:


Lamborghini Urraco:


Lamborghini Jalpa:


Jalpa Interior:


Jalpa - Engine Bay:


Maserati Ghibli - front engine 4.7 L V8 dry sump, hence the flat nose:






VW-Porsche 914:




Lamborghini Diablo:




5.7 L V12 of pure Bull!


De Tomaso Pantera - rumour has it Elvis shot one in a rage:




Porsche 911 (964 - the most complex 911 ever made!) + Morgan Aero 8 (has a wooden chassis!):


Mini Cooper JCW + BMW Z1:


Morgan Aero 8:


BMW 4.4L V8 shoehorned in!










TVR Tuscan:


Porsche 911 Turbo (930) was the fastest production car for a while and the most practical one!


Here's a 1st Generation Chevrolet Corvette, from the mid 1950s:

[Jaggu]

Motul Museum continued...

More 1st Generation Corvettes including some late '50s and early '60s models, with their trademark two-tone paint schemes:


















Moving on from the 1st Gen (C1) Corvettes to the sharper flat-nosed 2nd Generation (C2) cars, a departure from the rounded and curvy design language of the 1st Gen. It was the first of the Corvettes to be christened the 'Sting Ray':






The Hard Top C2s (pictured here in red) were famous for their split rear windscreens:






The C2 was followed by the C3 that began production in 1968. The design was evolutionary rather than revolutionary, as the car retained its pop-up headlights, but developed tighter muscles around the wheels and arches, and a sharper, pointier nose too!






Mid '80s and '90s Italian motorcycles bred for the racetracks!





A souped-up original Mini Cooper in iconic British Racing Green:


Quintessential American Muscle: A Pontiac GTO from the late '60s:


Lotus Esprits - The British answer to Ferrari!


Lancia Delta Integrale in heritage Martini livery. Tasty!










The collection was not limited to full size stuff, scale models were represented too:

[Jaggu]

Motul Museum continued...

1968 Ferrari 365GTC - one of 22 RHD cars ever made:




TVR Tuscan:


Some sort of formula car for the tracks, I guess:


And when I thought I had covered it, I saw stairs leading down!!! That is a yummy super Beetle that is welcoming me down:


I had to fall back from the guided tour to shoot the cars and avoid others getting in between






An original Lotus Super 7:


Top Left - Westfield (Lotus Super 7 Replica). Top Right - Lotus Elise:


Triumph GT6 - take a Triumph Spitfire, add a hardtop coupe body and a 2 litre straight 6 engine. Note the hump on the bonnet:


An early Mini JCW:


Fiat 500:


Jaguar XK140 and a Jaguar E Type:


Top - Lotus 2-Eleven Track Car. Bottom – MGC, a rare version of the MGB with a six cylinder shoehorned in. Note the hump on the bonnet:


Top Left - Lotus Elite or Eclat based on the nose. Top Right - Ford Lotus Cortina Mark 2:


Top L-R - Austin Healey Sprite, Austin Healey 3000, Jaguar Mark 2. Bottom L-R - Mercedes 220S, Mercedes 220SE Coupe:


Top - Triumph Spitfire. Bottom - Mercedes 500E AMG (I doubt it is a stock Mercedes with spoilers, judging by the quality of the collection):








Alpine Renault A110:




Maserati Ghibli (AM336) - an updated version of the Biturbo and Maserati Biturbo:


Another Ferrari 365GTC (make it #2 of 22 RHD) and Alpine Renault A610:


Ford Mustang Mach1:




BMW Z3M Coupe:

[Jaggu]

Motul Museum continued...













Foreground - TVR V8S:


Marcos Mantis - one of 51 cars ever produced:






An original Porsche 901 renamed 911 after Peugeot claimed rights on nomenclature bearing a central 0 in the name:


Jaguar XJS V12:


Alvis 3 Litre TD21 - Series 1 1958-1963:


Lotus Elan:


Lotus Elan +2:




Clockwise from top left - Porsche 924 Turbo, Porsche 944S, Porsche 911 Carrera (late 1970s) and Porsche 911 (Early 1960s):


Maserati Mexico - one of 485 produced:


Top - Alfa Romeo 1500. Bottom - Lancia Delta Rallye:


Lancia Fulvia Zagato Coupe and Alfa Romeo Spider:










Lancia Monte Carlo:


Citroen DS23:

[Jaggu]

A super sexy Jaguar E-Type flat floor convertible. Supposed to be rare and the most valuable one in the collection. This car was parked with cars surrounding all around and I had no way of getting close without a struggle:








Maserati Ghibli undergoing restoration:








A Super Beetle with those infamous elephant's foot tail lamps:


The Porsche 928GT:




An assortment of bikes:


The Citroen DS23:






Motul products on display or is it a hint? I guess these are the materials used to keep these cars looking like new:


Thank you Michelin for enabling this peek and thanks a ton to the owner of this mega collection & the caretaker engineer who showed us around!

Disclaimer: Michelin invited Team-BHP for the trip. They covered all the travel expenses for this event.

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to The International Automotive Scene. Thanks for sharing!

[VijayAnand1]

Fantastic thread. Lovely photos. I think T-Bhp has a style to connotate cars from bikes, a subtle hint that, when it's cars, nothing stops us.

Cheers!
VJ

[ajmat]

This is a mouthwatering collection. I really enjoyed captioning the pics. Some of the cars have been imported from the UK and still maintain the original plates

[PapaBravo]

What a superb collection !! Mouthwatering exotics all of them. Thanks Jaggu for captioning all the pictures & providing trivia wherever possible.

I just wish they were displayed in a more open layout in order to get good pictures.

Cheers,

Pawan

[tweaker]

What a beautiful collection! With so many exotics around, the Porsches (my personal favorites) were looking like a mainstream car brand

[jnanesh]

That is an insane collection , any idea why a few cars have wires connected to them, the Jag E-type too had wires connected to it. Is it to charge the batteries or some sort of grounding?

[neil.jericho]

What a fabulous collection! Truly a collector with impeccable taste.

The two Ducatis in the top right corner are interesting. The one liveried in the 155 is one of only 155 Ducati 988S Ben Bostrom replicas sold by Ducati. 154 were on sale in the US and this, the 155th, was on sale on auction with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross Liberty Disaster Fund. (Source - MCN).

The Ducati on the right most is one of only 200 999R Fila edition bikes. Ducati launched them to celebrate 14 World Superbike championship wins and James Toseland’s then recent World Superbike Championship.

This is the 1970 Dodge Coronet RT.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by jnanesh

Is it to charge the batteries or some sort of grounding?

Thanks and yes those are battery tenders to keep the cells in good shape during long breaks.

Originally Posted by ajmat

This is a mouthwatering collection. I really enjoyed captioning the pics.

Thank you! for helping me tag the cars. I could have never managed this task alone lol.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

What a fabulous collection! Truly a collector with impeccable taste.
===
[/center]This is the 1970 Dodge Coronet RT.

Thank you so much for adding the missing details. Glad you liked the collection.

[thecarguy]

Is this place open to tourists? I am planning to go to South Africa if it's open to the public I'd love to visit. It'll bring some petrolhead candy into this trip.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by thecarguy

Is this place open to tourists? I am planning to go to South Africa if it's open to the public I'd love to visit. It'll bring some petrolhead candy into this trip.

As far as I know, it is a No.

This is a private collection which was opened to the media and social media influencers for the evening, brilliantly organised by the Michelin South Africa team.