04/06/2026
RIP JURGEN ZU BENTHEIM
A mighty tree has fallen with the passing of Jurgen Graf zu Bentheim on Monday 1 June, at the age of 75.
Born and raised in Windhoek, Namibia, Jurgen cut his motorsport teeth in the 1970s, racing a Ford Es**rt V6 on the salt pans of Swakopmund, while he was working at Harries Ford in Walvis Bay.
In 1986 he moved to Paarl in the Western Cape to found his own dealership, Novel Ford, which later expanded to encompass branches in Stellenbosch and Goodwood.
On the track, he campaigned a Ford Sierra V8 in the WP Super Saloons series at Killarney and later went National in the then WesBank V8 series, always a crowd favourite in his fire-breathing Ford Sapphire.
He even created a street-legal version, the Novel Sapphire 5.0 V8, which was quicker than the legendary Sierra XR8. Powered by a 302 Windsor V8, it featured a five-speed Borg-Warner ‘short selector’ gearbox, stiffer suspension and Gabriel gas dampers; only 75 were ever made.
During this time, he also supported several Ford-powered rally teams which competed nationwide, and even as far afield as Namibia. The most successful was the Es**rt V6 of Johan Zulch, which took the WP Rally title five times in seven years and won its class in 30 consecutive events.
Jurgen later became a leading competitor in the V8 Masters series at Killarney; humble and friendly, he earned a fine reputation throughout his racing career as a gentleman both on and off the track, always ready for a quick chat with fans.
The Killarney family is the poorer for his passing; our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Margarete and his daughters Simone, Claudia and Bianca.
