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administration after the war, and also ran a garage. He died in 1976. “Mario” Massacuratti,
in addition to his racing interests, was a geologist and civil engineer and involved in the

construction of Hout Bay harbour. He died in Rome in 1985. Doug van Riet attained the
rank of Major during WW2 and was awarded the M.B.E. for his services (said to be the

saving of 1300 lives). He continued racing after the war and made his final appearance at

the age of 45 years at Gunners’ Circle in 1952 in the Fourth van Riebeeck Trophy.
Thereafter he was chairman of the Gordon’s Bay Village Management Board and also

Harbour Master until retirement in 1972. He was active in the NSRI and designed a number
of its rescue boats. He died in 2003 at the age of 96 years. (Fig. 3.58)

Conclusion

The year 1939 marked the end of a distinctive era in motoring. Subsequent mechanical
innovations, the post-war economic revival, new mass production methods, further rounds

of technological innovation, and cheaper and cheaper oil resulted in progressive

improvements to automobile performance and safety, and the rising motorization of
societies everywhere. In this, the motor designers and manufacturers greatly surpassed the
th
early predictions of the motor car’s probable significance on the 20 century.

Cape Town, in 1939, had a population of 350 000. Its transport system comprised 45 000
registered vehicles, 24 000 registered bicycles, a fleet of 98 motor buses that moved 23

million passengers annually, and an efficient rail system that carried 44 million passengers

per year. (Cape Times Transport Supplement 16/2/1939). Today the population is nearly
ten times larger and the number of vehicles on the roads is at least twenty times greater.

In 1939 an average of 2067 vehicles passed daily along Main Road in the Simon’s Town

magisterial area – an average of maybe 100 per hour. Today more than 1300 vehicles flow
through Kalk Bay during the peak hour alone, and during the rest of the day hourly flows

exceed 800 vehicles.