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The art of restoring vintage cars


• Francois Lottering

THE town of Omaruru in the Erongo region is synonymous with arts and crafts as many artists – even from as far as America – flock to the town for its peace and central location in Namibia.

If we expected the colourful building, decorated with motor and fuel brands from years long gone by, to be that of an arts painter or sculpture we would not be far from the truth as restoring and repairing vintage cars can also be considered as art.

Simon van Zyl and his friends sharing the same passion, decided on Omaruru due to the business opportunities the town offers, property development and its central location. Hence, the birth of Omaruru Classic Cars (OCC).

Entering the showroom and workshop will leave any motor enthusiast breathless as there are not only vintage and muscle cars there, but also many other icons like lubricant tin cans and glass bottles dating back to the mid-50s, and Land Rovers and Jeeps dating back to the late 40s.

The combined experience of many years makes Van Zyl and his friends the ideal “go-to” team whenever anyone wants their car to be restored, tuned or even repaired. “No car is too old to be restored to its former glory, said Van Zyl.

VINTAGE COLLECTOR

Van Zyl said though they are all business people, classic and vintage cars is now their hobby.

However, the hobby does not come cheap as these cars need attention and care to keep them in mint condition.

Van Zyl is one of few people in Namibia who own a classic car museum with not less than 16 vintage cars – all of them in good running condition.

Opening their doors two months ago in Wilhelm Zeraua Street brought a new dimension to the main street with their warm colours and the display of an old yellow VW Beetle on the roof with the words “OCC” written on it.

But where do the cars come from, as one would not expect most surrounding farms, lodges and even nearby communities of Omatjete and Kalkfeld to still have barnyard hide-aways?

“We get requests from all over Namibia,” Van Zyl told Top Revs, adding, “What makes this shop unique is that we do not take any vehicles after 1990, we give special attention to special cars.”

The scarcity of spare parts does hamper the process of restoring/repairing the oldies, Van Zyl said, adding that they are well connected all over the world and can bring parts from as far as America to Omaruru within two weeks.

“My team has the perfect system in place to source and order what we need for our clients, Van Zyl said.

This on its own give some peace of mind for vintage owners as in many cases more modern cars need to wait longer for spare parts to be ordered from overseas if they are not local or available in neighbouring South Africa.

Restoring an old car is a complex and costly exercise as one cannot tell the owner how much it will cost due to various unforeseen reasons ranging from mechanical issues to sourcing of spare parts. Hence, consulting with clients throughout the process is vital, Van Zyl said.

“But at the end, when a client leaves the OCC workshop, we all must know that the car is in a perfect condition that will bring the owner many long and good kilometres in the future,” he said.

The number of old cars driving around in the area is astonishing. Top Revs encountered several cars dating back to the early 70s like the Datsun LDV at Omaruru, while a late 70s Ford Cortina 3,0L V6 is still operating at neighbouring Karibib – all in good running order.





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