From left: Buyile Gqubule, manager of AutoPavilion; Thomas Schaefer, chairman and managing director of VW SA; and Nitin Bhikha.
A family has donated a restored 1991 Jetta to Volkswagen South Africa’s AutoPavilion heritage centre in Uitenhage.
The vehicle was handed over by the Bhikha family, which still owns and runs an original Beetle that has been in the family for some 44 years.
Nitin Bhikha, a qualified engineer who works at Volkswagen, bought the Jetta in 2012 and set about refurbishing it. Once complete, he handed it over to the local arm of the Wolfsburg-based automaker.
“I am touched by the generosity of the Bhikha family and their passion for our cars and our company. We are grateful to them for this donation,” said Thomas Schaefer, chairman and managing director of VW SA.
The AutoPavilion was opened in 2004 to replace the previous museum.
