One lucky person was taken by surprise recently when she unknowingly became the 200 000th visitor to the AutoPavilion – Volkswagen South Africa’s popular heritage centre.
One lucky person was taken by surprise recently when she unknowingly became the 200 000th visitor to the AutoPavilion – Volkswagen South Africa’s popular heritage centre.
This is almost exactly six years after opening next to the factory entrance in Uitenhage. Also known as the “Place of cars and legends,” it is still the only automobile discovery centre on the continent and only the fifth in the world.
Volkswagen opened the doors of this architectural masterpiece in March 2004, investing millions in creating a unique museum to capture the heritage of the people’s favourite.
Since then, school groups, students, foreign and local tourists have been arriving in droves. On average around 3 000 visitors a month came to enjoy the nostalgia, high technology and edutainment the AutoPavilion offers.
Combined with a fascinating factory tour twice a day, it soon became one of Uitenhage’s most popular tourist attractions and a must see for all car enthusiasts.
The AutoPavilion features a nostalgic as well as a hi-tech collection of cars, including unique vehicles, prototypes and record breaking cars.
Highlights include a hatch back new Beetle as well as a VW Nardo W12, a world record breaking super car – one of only two ever made.
Other highlights include 27 static and graphic displays and over 20 interactive exhibits. And in the spirit of the upcoming World Cup, management decided to add a bit of fun to the event and will give an even bigger prize to the 202010th visitor through the doors.
Droves of foreign tourists are expected during the World Cup and so even more interesting and special exhibits and cars are planned, and will be shipped in from Germany.
One of these is a Dakar Race Touareg which won this most grueling international desert race in Argentina and Chile.
The AutoPavilion is open weekdays from 8.30am to 4pm and on the first Saturday of each month from 10am to 1pm. Factory tours must be pre-booked on www. autopavilion.co.za or by emailing autopavilion@vwsa.co.za.
