South African Motorsport mourns the passing of one of its larger than life characters with the sad news that Willie Hepburn has passed away at the age of 82. He started his racing career at Krugersdorp in 1965 at the age of 23, where he entered a 1957 Morris Minor in the Krugersdorp Hill Climb and achieved an impressive list of accolades over 56 years right up to recent times where he competed at the Simola Hill Climb in Knysna. One of his unique attributes is that he was a privateer competitor his entire career, turning down many factory-team drives to rather build and prepare his own cars. Being a man who was never afraid to get his hands dirty and with his ‘never say die’ attitude and his willingness to help others he would often lend his opposition a helping hand with their cars, just to ensure that he had some healthy competition on track.

Picture credit: Darryl Kukard
Hepburn was a true all-rounder having competed in hill climbs, top end runs, oval track racing, drag racing, Group N Production cars, Wesbank V8 Modified Saloons, super saloons as well classic & historic cars. For many years Hepburn has been the holder of the land speed record for a road-legal car in South Africa driving a Pontiac Trans-Am powered by a twin-turbo charged 7.0 litre engine he set a speed of 372,401 km/h in 1990 on a closed off section of highway using standard Goodyear road tyres.
He is also the oldest driver to win a National Championship clinching the 2008 V8 title in a Chevrolet Corvette at the age of 65. Not only was he an accomplished racer but also a highly respected race-car builder where his legacy will long be remembered as we regularly see the fruits of his trade in the magnificent V8 Ford Capri’s and Chevy Can-Am’s that are still competing on circuits around the country.