Nelson Mandela, and the role of cars in his life

Posted on 06-12-2013 at 8:09 by sir_smokalot – 47 Comments”

Call it beroepsdeformatie, call it opportunism, but then last night the not entirely unexpected news of Nelson Mandela’s death came in, I asked myself immediately whether the man actually doing something with cars. And sure enough, Madiba proved to be an avid fan.

Even before Mandela as prisoner 46664 walked through life, he seems to have a passion for cars had to have, according to the creators of the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, that around this time in a premiere. So he drove as a young man, a Chevrolet from the ’40s, but he also had an eye for other vehicles, so says a producer:

“Mandela loved these cars. “He was a real fanatic as a young man,” says Chadwick. “If you knew Mandela as a young man you knew he had a love of fine clothes, tailoring and these great vehicles.”

The most famous car of nelson Mandela, which is currently being commemorated is, without a doubt, the red Mercedes S-Class (S500) W126, made in Africa, which Mandela gift received after his release from robben island (video). The license plate contained his initials (Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela), and the car is currently on display at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg (photo: carblog.co.za):

You can count on it that on this particular model in the factory in East London, SA, received the greatest attention is, old employees of the factory told later that people with an alcohol or other addiction is far from this red S-Class in the making, were held.

Last year was one of his old 7 Series, a gift from BMW at the time, auctioned off for charity.

During Nelson Mandela Boot Camp, he seems to be in an army Jeep used to have, but this we were not confirmed.

In addition to fun made cars for a black page in his history: some years ago, came to his granddaughter in a car, but also his eldest son, Thembekile, died in 1969 in a car accident. At the time, was Mandela fixed, he has never had the opportunity to say goodbye to his son.

Now Mandela himself died, and after 95 years in relatively good health, no one can talk about that seems to me. Mercedes-Benz made about the previously mentioned red S-Class, a short documentary, you can find them on autojunk.