There are worse ways to spend a Saturday than admiring Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches and beautifully preserved classics beside the Indian Ocean, with Portuguese food close at hand.
So, keep Saturday September 5 free for the third Santos Beach Auto Extremo, which returns to the shores of Mossel Bay with an eclectic collection of classic, collectable, exotic and modern performance cars.
Although Auto Extremo is only entering its third year, its roots stretch back three decades to a modest gathering of Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts, a snoek braai and a shared passion for motor cars.
The story began in 1996, when members of the Southern Cape Region of the Mercedes-Benz Club of SA gathered at Santos Beach for their annual spring snoek braai.
It became a much-loved tradition, bringing together interesting cars, good food, friendship and the magnificent Mossel Bay coastline.
In 2024, that simple but successful formula grew into the first Santos Beach Auto Extremo, opening the gathering to special-interest vehicles of all marques and eras.
For chief organiser Waldo Scribante, that heritage remains at the heart of the event.
“Some of the world’s great motoring gatherings have become famous not simply because of the cars, but because of where they are held and the experience surrounding them.
“Think of the extraordinary cars beside the Pacific at Pebble Beach, historic machinery at Goodwood, or the magnificent automotive gatherings around Lake Como.
“At Santos, we have something uniquely South African: beautiful motor cars beside the Indian Ocean, mountains in the distance, Mossel Bay hospitality and a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere,” he said.
Visitors can expect everything from veteran and vintage machinery to post-war classics, iconic sports cars, young-timers, rare collector vehicles and some of today’s most desirable high-performance cars.
Among the cars expected this year are a Lamborghini Urus and a selection of Ferraris and Porsches, along with high-performance Mercedes-AMG and BMW M models.
They will share the limelight with iconic classic sports cars and collectable automobiles, showing just how dramatically motoring design, engineering and performance have changed through the generations.
Previous events have demonstrated just how fascinating this contrast can be.
A beautifully preserved classic from the middle of the last century may find itself parked only metres from a modern supercar offering levels of technology and performance that its original designers could scarcely have imagined.
“That contrast is part of the magic of Auto Extremo,” Scribante said.
“We don’t want a show representing only one era or one marque.
“We want a young enthusiast who comes to see a Lamborghini, Ferrari, BMW M or AMG to discover an iconic sports car from the 1950s or ’60s.
“Equally, we want the traditional classic-car enthusiast to appreciate the extraordinary engineering found in today’s performance cars.”
It is this marriage of motoring heritage and contemporary performance that gives Santos Beach Auto Extremo its distinctive character.
The event celebrates not only where the motor car has come from, but also where it is going.
For visitors who want to do more than stand and admire the machinery, MUA Insurance Acceptances will bring a taste of motorsport to Santos Beach with a racing simulator challenge.
Visitors can complete an entry form for a lucky draw, with those selected getting behind the virtual wheel to race three laps on the simulators.
Times will be recorded throughout the day and the fastest competitors will progress to a final shootout later in the afternoon to decide the Santos Beach Auto Extremo racing simulator champion.
There is a cool prize at stake. PSG is sponsoring two surprise air tickets and an AMG advanced driving course, taking the successful simulator racer from virtual competition to the thrill of high-performance driving in the real world.
Petrolheads cannot live on polished chrome alone, so Auto Extremo will also have a distinctly Portuguese culinary flavour drawing inspiration from Mossel Bay’s historic links with the great Portuguese navigators.
That connection stretches back more than five centuries.
Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias landed at Mossel Bay in 1488 during his pioneering voyage around the southern tip of Africa, placing the bay firmly in the story of early European maritime exploration in southern Africa.
This year, that heritage will be celebrated through food, hospitality and atmosphere, with the Auto Extremo food court serving a selection of Portuguese flavours.
MUA Insurance Acceptances returns as the main sponsor of the 2026 Santos Beach Auto Extremo, continuing its strong association with the specialist and collector-car community.
The event is again supported by Iconic Mossel Bay, while Wesgro joins for the first time this year, strengthening its role in promoting Mossel Bay, the Garden Route and the Western Cape as destinations for motoring and lifestyle tourism.
PSG joins through its sponsorship of the racing simulator prize.
It is not too late to become part of the show. Owners of suitable classic, collectable, special-interest, sports and exotic vehicles are invited to apply to exhibit.
Registration is open until August 28, at https://register.santosbeachautoextremo.co.za.
Admission on the day is R100 for adults, while schoolgoing children accompanied by their parents enter free.
Scribante said: “From a spring snoek braai in 1996 to a celebration of motoring on the shores of Mossel Bay, the cars may have become more exotic and the event much bigger, but the spirit remains exactly the same: beautiful cars, great food, spectacular surroundings and people brought together by a shared passion for motoring.”